s on tbe Ibistorg ot IRelicjions
THE RELIGION
OF
BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA
MORRIS JASTROW, JR., PH.D.
(LEIPZIG)
PROFESSOR OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES IN THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
BOSTON, U.S.A.
GINN & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS
1898
FEB 2 8 1957
COPYRIGHT, 1898
BY MORRIS JASTROW, JR.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
TO
H. B. J.
MY FAITHFUL COLLABORATOR
PREFACE.
IT requires no profound knowledge to reach the conclusion
that the time has not yet come for an exhaustive treatise on the
religion of Babylonia and Assyria. But even if our knowledge
of this religion were more advanced than it is, the utility of an
exhaustive treatment might still be questioned. Exhaustive
treatises are apt to be exhausting to both reader and author ;
and however exhaustive (or exhausting) such a treatise may be,
it cannot be final except in the fond imagination of the writer.
For as long as activity prevails in any branch of science, all
results are provisional. Increasing knowledge leads necessarily
to a change of perspective and to a readjustment of views.
The chief reason for writing a book is to prepare the way for
the next one on the same subject.
In accordance with the general plan of this Series ] of Hand-
books, it has been my chief aim to gather together in con-
venient arrangement and readable form what is at present
known about the religion of the Babylonians and Assyrians.
The investigations of scholars are scattered through a large
variety of periodicals and monographs. The time has come
for focusing the results reached, for sifting the certain from
the uncertain, and the uncertain from the false. This work of
gathering the disjecta membra of Assyriological science is
essential to future progress. If I have succeeded in my chief
aim, I shall feel amply repaid for the labor involved.
1 Set forth in the announcement of the series at the back of the book and in the
Editor's Prefatory Note to Volume I.
viii PREFACE.
In order that the book may serve as a guide to students, the
names of those to whose researches our present knowledge of
the subject is due have frequently been introduced, and it will
be found, I trust, that I have been fair to all.1 At the same
time, I have naturally not hesitated to indicate my dissent from
views advanced by this or that scholar, and it will also be
found, I trust, that in the course of my studies I have advanced
the interpretation of the general theme or of specific facts at
various points. While, therefore, the book is only in a second-
ary degree sent forth as an original contribution, the discus-
sion of mooted points will enhance its value, I hope, for the
specialist, as well as for the general reader and student for
whom, in the first place, the volumes of this series are
intended.
The disposition of the subject requires a word of explana-
tion. After the two introductory chapters (common to all the
volumes of the series) I have taken up the pantheon as the
natural means to a survey of the field. The pantheon is
treated, on the basis of the historical texts, in four sections :
(i) the old Babylonian period, (2) the middle period, or the
pantheon in the days of Hammurabi, (3) the Assyrian pan-
theon, and (4) the latest or neo-Babylonian period. The most
difficult phase has naturally been the old Babylonian pantheon.
Much is uncertain here. Not to speak of the chronology which
is still to a large extent guesswork, the identification of many
of the gods occurring in the oldest inscriptions, with their later
equivalents, must be postponed till future discoveries shall have
cleared away the many obstacles which beset the path of the
scholar. The discoveries at Telloh and Nippur have occa-
sioned a recasting of our views, but new problems have arisen
as rapidly as old ones have been solved. I have been espe-
cially careful in this section not to pass beyond the range of
1 In the index, however, names of scholars have only been introduced where
absolutely necessary to the subject.
PREFACE. IX
what is definitely known, or, at the most, what may be regarded
as tolerably certain. Throughout the chapters on the pantheon,
I have endeavored to preserve the attitude of being ' open to
conviction ' — an attitude on which at present too much stress
can hardly be laid.
The second division of the subject is represented by the
religious literature. With this literature as a guide, the views
held by the Babylonians and Assyrians regarding magic and
oracles, regarding the relationship to the gods, the creation of
the world, and the views of life after death have been illustrated
by copious translations, together with discussions of the speci-
mens chosen. The translations, I may add, have been made
direct from the original texts, and aim to be as literal as is
consonant with presentation in idiomatic English.
The religious architecture, the history of the temples, and the
cult form the subject of the third division. Here again there
is much which is still uncertain, and this uncertainty accounts
for the unequal subdivisions of the theme which will not
escape the reader.
Following the. general plan of the series, the last chapter of
the book is devoted to a general estimate and to a consideration
of the influence exerted by the religion of Babylonia and Assyria.
In the transliteration of proper names, I have followed con-
ventional methods for well-known names (like Nebuchadnezzar),
and the general usage of scholars in the case of others. In
some cases I have furnished a transliteration of my own ; and
for the famous Assyrian king, to whom we owe so much of the
material for the study of the Babylonian and Assyrian religion,
Ashurbanabal, I have retained the older usage of writing it
with a />, following in this respect Lehman, whose arguments *
in favor of this pronunciation for the last element in the name
I regard as on the whole acceptable.
1 In his work, Samassum-ukin A"V;//v -' YL ONI AN- ASS YK1AN KEL 1C, ION.
4. Approached from the theoretical side, there remains,
after making full allowance for the Semitic elements in the
system, a residuum that has not yet found a satisfactory explan-
ation, either by those who favor the non-Semitic theory or by
those who hold the opposite view.
5. Pending further light to be thrown upon this question,
through the expected additions to our knowledge of the archae-
ology and of the anthropological conditions of ancient pre-
historic Mesopotamia, philological research must content itself
with an acknowledgment of its inability to reach a conclusion
that will appeal so forcibly to all minds, as to place the solution
of the problem beyond dispute.
6. There is a presumption in favor of assuming a mixture
of races in Southern Mesopotamia at an early day, and a
possibility, therefore, that the earliest form of picture writing
in this region, from which the Babylonian cuneiform is derived,
may have been used by a non-Semitic population, and that
traces of this are still apparent in the developed system after
the important step had been taken, marked by the advance from
picture to phonetic writing.
The important consideration for our purpose is, that the
religious conceptions and practices as they are reflected in the
literary sources now at our command, are distinctly Babylonian.
With this we may rest content, and, leaving theories aside,
there will be no necessity in an exposition of the religion of
the Babylonians and Assyrians to differentiate or to attempt
to differentiate between Semitic and so-called non- Semitic
elements. Local conditions and the long period covered
by the development and history of the religion in question,
are the factors that suffice to account for the mixed and
in many respects complicated phenomena which this religion
presents.
Having set forth the sources at our command for the study
of the Babylonian-Assyrian religion, and having indicated the
SOURCES AND METHODS <)/<' STUDY. 25
manner in which these sources have been made available for
our purposes, we are prepared to take the next step that will
fit us for an understanding of the religious practices that
prevailed in Mesopotamia, — a consideration of the land and
of its people, together with a general account of the history of
the latter.
CHAPTER II.
•THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE.
I.
THE Babylonians and Assyrians with whom we are con-
cerned in this volume dwelt in the region embraced by the
Euphrates and the Tigris, — the Babylonians in the south, or
the Euphrates Valley, the Assyrians to the northeast, in the
region extending from the Tigris into the Kurdish Mountain
districts ; while the northwestern part of Mesopotamia — the
northern half of the Euphrates district — was the seat of various
empires that were alternately the rivals and the subjects of
either Babylonia or Assyria.
The entire length of Babylonia was about 300 miles ; the
greatest breadth about 125 miles. The entire surface area
was some 23,000 square miles, or about the size of West
Virginia. The area of Assyria, with a length of 350 miles and
a breadth varying from 170 to 300 miles, covered 75,000 square
miles, which would make it somewhat smaller than the state of
Nebraska. In the strict sense, the term Mesopotamia should
be limited to the territory lying between the Euphrates and
the Tigris above their junction, in the neighborhood of
Baghdad, and extending northwards to the confines of the
Taurus range ; while the district to the south of Baghdad, and
reaching to the Persian Gulf, may more properly be spoken of
as the Euphrates Valley ; and a third division is represented
by the territory to the east of the Tigris, from Baghdad, and
up to the Kurdish Mountains ; but while this distinction is one
that may be justly maintained, in view of the different charac-
ter that the southern valley presents from the northern plain,
'/•//A' LAND AND THE PEOPLE 27
it has become so customary, in popular parlance, to think of the
entire territory along and between the Euphrates and Tigris as
one country, that the term Mesopotamia in this broad sense
may be retained, with the division suggested by George Raw-
linson, into Upper and Lower Mesopotamia. The two streams,
as they form the salient traits of the region, are the factors
that condition the character of the inhabitants and the culture
that once flourished there. The Euphrates, or, to give the
more correct pronunciation, Purat, signifies the * river ' par
excellence. It is a quiet stream, flowing along in majestic
dignity almost from its source, in the Armenian mountains,
not far from the town of Erzerum, until it is joined by the
Tigris in the extreme south. As the Shatt-el Arab, z>., Arabic
River, the two reach the Persian Gulf. Receiving many
tributaries as long as it remains in the mountains, it flows
first in a westerly direction, as though making direct for the
Mediterranean Sea, then, veering suddenly to the southeast, it
receives but few tributaries after it once passes through the
Taurus range into the plain, — on the right side, only the
Sadschur, on the left the Balichus and the Khabur. From
this point on for the remaining distance of 800 miles, so far
from receiving fresh accessions, it loses in quantity through
the marsh beds that form on both sides. When it reaches the
alluvial soil of Babylonia proper, its current and also its
depth are considerably diminished through the numerous
canals that form an outlet for its waters. Of its entire length,
1780 miles, it is navigable only for a small distance, cataracts
forming a hindrance in its northern course and sandbanks in
the south. In consequence, it never became at any time an
important avenue for commerce ; and besides rafts, which could
be floated down to a certain distance, the only means of com-
munication ever used were wicker baskets coated within and
without with bitumen, or some form of a primitive ferry for
passing from one shore to another.
28 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
An entirely different stream is the Tigris — a corrupted form
of ' Idiklat.'' It is only 1 146 miles in length, and is marked, as
the native name indicates, by the ' swiftness ' of its flow. Start-
ing, like the Euphrates, in the rugged regions of Armenia,
it continues its course through mountain clefts for a longer
period, and joined at frequent intervals by tributaries, both
before it merges into the plain and after doing so, the volume
of its waters is steadily increased. Even when it approaches
the alluvial soil of the south, it does not lose its character until
well advanced in its course to the gulf. Advancing towards
the Euphrates and again receding from it, it at last joins the
latter at Korna, and together they pour their waters through
the Persian Gulf into the great ocean. It is navigable from
Diabekr in the north, for its entire length. Large rafts may
be floated down from Mosul to Baghdad and Basra, and even
small steamers have ascended as far north as Nimrud. The
Tigris, then, in contrast to the Euphrates, is the avenue of
commerce for Mesopotamia, forming the connecting bond
between it and the rest of the ancient world, — Egypt, Indie,
and the lands of the Mediterranean. Owing, however, to the
imperfect character of the means of transportation in ancient
and, for that matter, in modern times, the voyage up the stream
was impracticable. The rafts, resting on inflated bags of goat
or sheep skin, can make no headway against the rapid stream,
and so, upon reaching Baghdad or Basra, they are broken up,
and the bags sent back by the shore route to the north.
The contrast presented by the two rivers is paralleled by the
traits distinguishing Upper from Lower Mesopotamia. Shut
off to the north and northeast by the Armenian range, to
the northwest by the Taurus, Upper Mesopotamia retains,
for a considerable extent, and especially on the eastern side,
a rugged aspect. The Kurdish mountains run close to the
Tigris' bed for some distance below Mosul, while between the
Tigris and the Euphrates proper, small ranges and promontories
/'//A' LAND AMJ) 77/A /'AW'/./i. 29
stretch as far as the end of the Taurus chain, well on towards
Mosul.
Below Mosul, the region begins to change its character.
The mountains cease, the plain begins, the soil becomes alluvial
and through the regular overflow of the two rivers in the rainy
season, develops an astounding fertility. This overflow begins,
in the case of the Tigris, early in March, reaches its height in
May, and ceases about the middle of June. The overflow of
the Euphrates extends from the middle of March till the begin-
_ning of June, but September is reached before the river resumes
its natural state. Not only does the overflow of the Euphrates
thus extend over a longer period, but it oversteps its banks with
greater violence than does the Tigris, so that as far north as the
juncture with the Khabur, and still more so in the south, the
country to both sides is flooded, until it assumes the appear-
ance of a great sea. Through the violence of these overflows,
changes constantly occur in the course that the river takes, so
that places which in ancient times stood on its banks are to-day
removed from the main river-bed. Another important change
in Southern Babylonia is the constant accretion of soil, due to
the deposits from the Persian Gulf.
This increase proceeding on an average of about one mile in
fifty years has brought it about that the two rivers to-day,
instead of passing separately into the Gulf, unite at Korna —
some distance still from the entrance. The contrast of seasons
is greater, as may be imagined, in Upper Mesopotamia than in
the south. The winters are cold, with snowfalls that may last
for several months, but with the beginning of the dry season,
in May, a tropical heat sets in which lasts until the beginning
of November, when the rain begins. Assyria proper, that is,
the eastern side of Mesopotamia, is more affected by the
mountain ranges than the west. In the Euphrates Valley, the
heat during the dry season, from about May till November,
when for weeks, and even months, no cloud is to be seen,
30 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
beggars description ; but strange enough, the Arabs who dwell
there at present, while enduring the heat without much dis-
comfort, are severely affected by a winter temperature that for
Europeans and Americans is exhilarating in its influence.
From what has been said, it will be clear that the Euphrates
is, par excellence, the river of Southern Mesopotamia or Baby-
lonia, while the Tigris may be regarded as the river of Assyria.
It was the Euphrates that made possible the high degree of
culture, that was reached in the south. Through the very
intense heat of the dry season, the soil developed a fertility
that reduced human labor to a minimum. The return for
sowing of all kinds of grain, notably wheat, corn, barley, is
calculated, on/an average, to be five hundred-fold, while the
date palm flourishes with scarcely any cultivation at all.
Sustenance being thus provided for with little effort, it needed
only a certain care in protecting oneself from damage through
the too abundant overflow, to enable the population to find that
ease of existence, which is an indispensable condition of culture.
This was accomplished by the erection of dikes, and by direct-
ing the waters through channels into the fields.
Assyria, more rugged in character, did not enjoy the same
advantages. Its culture, therefore, not only arose at a later
period than that of Babylonia, but was a direct importation
from the south. It was due to the natural extension of the
civilization that continued for the greater part of the existence
of the two empires to be central in the south. But when once
Assyria was included in the circle of Babylonian culture, the
greater effort required in forcing the natural resources of the
soil, produced a greater variety in the return. Besides corn,
wheat and rice, the olive, banana and fig tree, mulberry and
vine were cultivated, while the vicinity of the mountain ranges
furnished an abundance of building material — wood and lime-
stone— that was lacking in the south. The fertility of Assyria
proper, again, not being dependent on the overflow of the Tigris,
THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE. 31
proved to be of greater endurance. With the neglect of the
irrigation system, Babylonia became a mere waste, and the
same river that was the cause of its prosperity became the foe
that, more effectually than any human power, contributed to
the ruin and the general desolation that marks the greater
part of the Euphrates Valley at the present time. Assyria
continued to play a part in history long after its ancient glory
had departed, and to this day enjoys a far greater activity, and
is of considerable more significance than the south.
II.
In so far as natural surroundings affect the character of two
peoples belonging to the same race, the Assyrians present that
contrast to the Babylonians which one may expect from the
differences, just set forth, between the two districts. The
former were rugged, more warlike, and when they acquired
power, used it in the perfection of their military strength ; the
latter, while not lacking in the ambition to extend their dominion,
yet, on the whole, presented a more peaceful aspect that led to
the cultivation of commerce and industrial arts. Both, how-
ever, have very many more traits in common than they have
marks of distinction. They both belong not only to the
Semitic race, but to the same branch of the race. Present-
ing the same physical features, the languages spoken by them
are identical, barring differences that do not always rise to
the degree of dialectical variations, and affect chiefly the pro-
nunciation of certain consonants. At what time the Baby-
lonians and Assyrians settled in the district in which we find
them, whence they came, and whether the Euphrates Valley or
the northern Tigris district was the first to be settled, are
questions that cannot, in the present state of knowledge, be
answered. As to the time of their settlement, the high degree
of culture that the Euphrates Valley shows at the earliest
32 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
period known to us, — about 4000 B.C., — and the indigenous
character of this culture, points to very old settlement, and
makes it easier to err on the side of not going back far enough,
than on the side of going too far. Again, while, as has been
several times intimated, the culture in the south is older than
that of the north, it does not necessarily follow that the settle-
ment of Babylonia antedates that of Assyria. The answer to
this question would depend upon the answer to the question
as to the original home of the Semites.1 The probabilities,
however, are in favor of assuming a movement of population,
as of culture, from the south to the north. At all events,
the history of Babylonia and Assyria begins with the former,
and as a consequence we are justified also in beginning with
that phase of the religion for which we have the earliest records,
— the Babylonian.
III.
At the very outset of a brief survey of the history of the
Babylonians, a problem confronts us of primary importance.
Are there any traces of other settlers besides the Semitic
Babylonians in the earliest period of the history of the Euphrates
Valley ? Those who cling to the theory of a non-Semitic origin
of the cuneiform syllabary will, of course, be ready to answer
in the affirmative. Sumerians and Akkadians are the names
given to these non-Semitic settlers who preceded the Baby-
lonians in the control of the Euphrates Valley. The names
are derived from the terms Sumer and Akkad, which are
frequently found in Babylonian and Assyrian inscriptions, in
connection with the titles of the kings. Unfortunately, scholars
are not a unit in the exact location of the districts comprised
by these names, some declaring Sumer to be in the north and
1 I may be permitted to refer to a publication by Dr. Brinton and myself, The
Cradle of the Semites (Philadelphia, 1889), in which the various views as to this
home are set forth.
THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE. 33
Akkad in the south ; others favoring the reverse position.
The balance of proof rests in favor of the former supposition ;
but however that may be, Sumer and Akkad represent, from
a certain period on, a general designation to include the whole
of Babylonia. Professor Hommel goes so far as to declare
that in the types found on statues and monuments of the oldest
period of Babylonian history — the monuments coming from
the mound Telloh — we have actual representations of these
Sumerians, who are thus made out to be a smooth-faced race
with rather prominent cheek-bones, round faces, and shaven
heads.1 He pronounces in favor of the highlands lying to the
east of Babylonia, as the home of the Sumerians, whence they
made their way into the Euphrates Valley. Unfortunately, the
noses on these old statues are mutilated, and with such an
important feature missing, anthropologists, at least, are unwill-
ing to pronounce definitely as to the type represented. Again,
together with these supposed non-Semitic types, other figures
have been found which, as Professor Hommel also admits,
show the ordinary Semitic features. It would seem, therefore,
that even accepting the hypothesis of a non-Semitic type
existing in Babylonia at this time, the Semitic settlers are
just as old as the supposed Sumerians ; and since it is admitted
that the language found on these statues and figures contains
Semitic constructions and Semitic words, it is, to say the least,
hazardous to give the Sumerians the preference over the Semites
so far as the period of settlement and origin of the Euphratean
culture is concerned. As a matter of fact, we are not warranted
in going beyond the statement that all evidence points in favor
of a population of mixed races in the Euphrates Valley from the
earliest period known to us. No positive proof is forthcoming
that Sumer and Akkad were ever employed or understood in
any other sense than as geographical terms.
1 It has been suggested that since the statues of Telloh are those of the priest-
kings, only the priestly classes shaved their hair off.
34 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
This one safe conclusion, however, that the Semitic settlers
of Babylonia were not the sole occupants, but by their side
dwelt another race, or possibly a variety of races, possessing
entirely different traits, is one of considerable importance. At
various times the non-Semitic hordes of Elam and the mountain
districts to the east of Babylonia swept over the valley, and
succeeded, for a longer or shorter period, in securing a firm
foothold. The ease with which these conquerors accommodated
themselves to their surroundings, continuing the form of gov-
ernment which they found there, making but slight changes in
the religious practices, can best be accounted for on the
supposition that the mixture of different races in the valley
had brought about an interchange and interlacing of traits
which resulted in the approach of one type to the other.
Again, it has recently been made probable that as early at
least as 2000, or even 2500 B.C., Semitic invaders entering
Babylonia from the side of Arabia drove the native Babylonian
rulers from the throne ; l and at a still earlier period inter-
course between Babylonia and distant nations to the northeast
and northwest was established, which left its traces on the
political and social conditions. At every point we come across
evidence of this composite character of Babylonian culture, and
the question as to the origin of the latter may, after all, resolve
itself into the proposition that the contact of different races
gave the intellectual impetus which is the first condition of a
forward movement in civilization ; and while it is possible that,
at one stage, the greater share in the movement falls to the
non-Semitic contingent, the Semites soon obtained the intel-
lectual ascendency, and so absorbed the non-Semitic elements
as to give to the culture resulting from the combination, the
homogeneous character it presents on the surface.
1 See an interesting discussion of the question by Professor Hommel, " Arabia
according to the Latest Discoveries and Researches." — Sunday School Times, 1895,
nos. 41 and 43.
THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE. 35
IV.
Our present knowledge of Babylonian history reaches back
to the period of about 4000 B.C. At that time we find the
Euphrates Valley divided into a series of states or principali-
ties, parcelling North and South Babylonia between them.
These states group themselves around certain cities. In fact,
the Babylonian principalities arise from the extension of the
city's jurisdiction, just as the later Babylonian empire is naught
but the enlargement, on a greater scale, of the city of Babylon.
Of these old Babylonian cities the most noteworthy, in the
south, are Eridu, Lagash,1 Ur, Larsa, Uruk, Ism; and in the
north, Agade, Sippar, Nippur, Kutha, and Babylon. The rulers
of these cities call themselves either 'king' (literally 'great
man ') or ' governor,' according as the position is a purely in-
dependent one, or one of subjection to a more powerful chieftain.
Thus the earliest rulers of the district of Lagash, of whom we
have inscriptions (c. 3200 B.C.) have the title of 'king,' but a
few centuries later Lagash lost its independent position and
its rulers became ' paresis,' i.e., governors. They are in a
position of vassalage, as it would appear, to the contempora-
neous kings of Ur, though this does not hinder them from en-
gaging in military expeditions against Elam, and in extensive
building operations. The kings of Ur, in addition to their
title as kings of Ur, are styled kings of Sumer and Akkad.
Whether at this time, Sumer and Akkad included the whole
of Babylonia, or, as seems more likely, only the southern part,
in either case, Lagash would fall under the jurisdiction of
these kings, if their title is to be regarded as more than an
empty boast. Again, the rulers of Uruk are known simply as
kings of that place, while those of Isin incorporate in their
titles, kingship over Ur as well as Sumer and Akkad.
1 Also known as Shirpurla which ^snsen (Keils Bib 1. 3, i, 5) thinks was the later
name.
36 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
For this early period, extending from about 4000 B.C. to
2300, the chronology is as yet uncertain. Beyond the titles
of the rulers over Babylonian states, there are but few safe
indications for determining the succession of dynasties. So
much, however, is now certain, — that simultaneous with the
governors of Lagash and the older kings of Ur, there was an
independent state in Northern Babylonia with its seat at Agade.
Indeed the history of this state can now be traced back
six centuries beyond that of Lagash. Two rulers of Agade,
Naram-Sin (c. 3800 B.C.) and Sargon (or to give his fuller name,
Shargani-shar-ali *), are the earliest rulers as yet known. These
kings of Agade extended their jurisdiction as far north, at
least, as Nippur on the one side and Sippar on the other.
The city of Babylon itself, if it existed at this period, was
therefore included within the territory of these kings; and it
follows that if there existed rulers of Babylon at this time,
which is doubtful (since the city is not mentioned), they were
in the same position of dependency upon the rulers of Agade
as the ' governors ' of Lagash were upon some greater power.
It is not until about the middle of the third millennium before
this era, that Babylon comes into prominence.
In the south, as already intimated, the rulers of Lagash
and the dynasty of Ur are the earliest of which we have any
record. There is every reason to believe that further excava-
tions at Mugheir will bring to light the names of older kings,
and the presumption is in favor of regarding the southern
states, or at least some of them, earlier than any in the north.
The climax in the power of the kings of Ur, the period when
1 See Hilprecht, Old Babylonian Inscriptions, i. 16-18. Naram-Sin signifies
' beloved of the god Sin ' (the moon-god) ; Shargani-shar-ali — ' the legitimate king,
king of the city.' The excavations of the University of Pennsylvania have cast new
light upon this most ancient period of Babylonian history. It is now known that
the temple of Bel at Nippur antedates the reign of Naram-Sin, and in the further
publications of the University, we may look for material which will enable us to pass
beyond the period of Sargon,
Till': LAND AND THE rKOPLK. 37
they exerted, in fact as well as in name, the sovereignty over
all Sumer and Akkad may be fixed approximately at 3000 B.C.
How far we shall be able to go beyond that, for the beginnings
of this state, must, for the present, remain doubtful, with the
chances in favor of a considerably earlier date ; and it may
be that prior to Ur and Lagash there were dynasties estab-
lished elsewhere, — at Eridu, perhaps, — the existence of which
will be revealed by future discoveries. An independent state
with its seat at Uruk follows upon the culminating period of the
glory of Ur, and may be regarded, indeed, as an indication that
the rulers of Ur had lost their control over the whole of South-
ern Babylonia. Isin, whose site has not yet been determined,
but which lay probably to the north of Uruk, was another
political center. Its rulers, so far as we know them, curiously
assign the fourth place to the title * king of Isin,' giving prece-
dence to their control over Nippur, Eridu, and Uruk. We may
conclude from this, that at the time when Isin extended its
supremacy, the greater luster attaching to the old towns of
Nippur and Uruk, was emphasized by the precedence given
to these centers over Isin, although the Isin kings are only
' shepherds ' and ' merciful lords ' over Nippur and Uruk, and
not kings.
At a subsequent period, the kings of Ur appear to have
regained the supremacy, which was wrested from them by Isin ;
and the rulers of the latter acknowledge their dependence upon
the kings of Ur. This so-called second dynasty of Ur in-
cludes Nippur. The kings are proud of calling themselves the
guardians of the temple of Bel in Nippur, nominated to the
office by the god himself, and reviving an old title of the kings of
Agade, style themselves also ' king of the four regions.' Another
change in the political horoscope is reflected in the subjection
of Ur to a district whose center was Larsa, not far from Ur, and
represented by the mound Senkereh. There are two kings,
Nur-Ramman (?>., light of Ramman) and Sin-iddina (/./'/,/<.. 4.S
nedos, a nigh officer of the state, but without royal prerogative,
mounted the throne. In the year 550 news reached Babylon
that Cyrus, the king of Anzan, had dealt a fatal blow to the
Median empire, capturing its king, Astyages, and joining Media
to his own district. He founded what was afterwards known
as the Persian empire.
The overthrow of the Medes gave Cyrus control over Assyria,
and it was to be expected that his gaze should be turned in the
direction of Babylonia. Nabonnedos recognized the danger,
but all his efforts to strengthen the powers of resistance to the
Persian arms were of no avail. Civil disturbances divided the
Babylonians. The cohesion between the various districts was
loosened, and within the city of Babylon itself, a party arose
antagonistic to Nabonnedos, who in their short-sightedness
hailed the advance of Cyrus. Under these circumstances,
Babylon fell an easy prey to the Persian conqueror. In the
autumn of the year 539 Cyrus entered the city in triumph, and
was received with such manifestations of joy by the populace, as
to make one almost forget that with his entrance, the end of a
great empire had come. Politically and religiously, the history
of Babylonia and Assyria terminates with the advent of Cyrus ;
and this despite the fact that it was his policy to leave the state
of affairs, including religious observances, as far as possible,
undisturbed. A new spirit had, however, come into the land
with him. The official religion of the state was that practiced
by Cyrus and his predecessors in their native land. The
essential doctrines of the religion, commonly known as Maz-
deism or Zoroastrianism, presented a sharp contrast to the
beliefs that still were current in Babylonia, and it was inevit-
able that with the influx of new ideas, the further development
of Babylonian worship was cut short. The respect paid by
Cyrus to the Babylonian gods was a mere matter of policy.
Still, the religious rites continued to be practiced as of old in
Babylonia and Assyria for a long time, and when the religion
46 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELJGION.
finally disappeared, under the subsequent conquests of the
Greeks, Romans, and Arabs, it left its traces in the popular
superstitions and in the ineradicable traditions that survived.
But so far as the history of this religion is concerned, it
comes to an end with the downfall of the second Babylonian
empire.
The period, then, to be covered by a treatment of the
religion of the Babylonians and Assyrians extends over the
long interval between about 4000 B.C. and the middle of the
sixth century. The development of this religion follows closely
the course of civilization and of history in the territory under
consideration. The twofold division, accordingly, into Baby-
lonia and Assyria, is the one that suggests itself also for the
religion. The beginning, as is evident from the historical
sketch given, must be made with Babylonia. It will be seen
that, while the rites there and in Assyria are much the same,
the characters of the gods as they developed in the south
were quite different from those of the north ; and, again, it
was inevitable that the Assyrian influence manifest in the
second Babylonian empire should give to the religion of the
south at this time, some aspects which were absent during the
days of the old Babylonian empire. In Babylonia, again, the
political changes form the basis for the transformation to be
observed in the position occupied by the deities at different
periods ; and the same general remark applies to the deities
peculiar to Assyria, who must be studied in connection with
the course pursued by the Assyrian empire.
The division of the subject which thus forces itself upon us
is twofold, (i) geographical, and (2) historical.
It will be necessary to treat first of the beliefs and pan-
theon developed during the first two periods of Babylonian
history, down to the practical conquest of Babylonia by
Till'. LAND AND Till'. /V<;6>/Y,/<. 47
Assyria. Then, turning to Assyria, the traits of the pantheon
peculiar to Upper Mesopotamia will be set forth. In the third
place, the history of the religion will be traced in Babylonia
during the union of the Babylonian- Assyrian empire ; and,
lastly, the new phases of that religion which appeared in the
days of the second Babylonian empire. Turning after this to
other aspects of the religion, it will be found that the religious
rites were only to a small degree influenced by political changes,
while the literature and religious art are almost exclusively
products of Babylonia. In treating of these subjects, accord-
ingly, no geographical divisions are called for, in setting forth
their chief features.
The general estimate to be given at the close of the volume
will furnish an opportunity of making a comparison between
the Babylonian-Assyrian religion and other religions of the
ancient world, with a view to determining what foreign in-
fluences may be detected in it, as well as ascertaining the
influence it exerted upon others.
CHAPTER III.
GENERAL TRAITS OF THE OLD BABYLONIAN PANTHEON.
THE Babylonian religion in the oldest form known to us
may best be described as a mixture of local and nature cults.
Starting with that phase of religious beliefs known as Animism,
which has been ascertained to be practically universal in
primitive society, the Babylonians, from ascribing life to the
phenomena of nature, to trees, stones, and plants, as well as to
such natural events, as storm, rain, and wind, and as a matter of
course to the great luminaries and to the stars — would, on the
one hand, be led to invoke an infinite number of spirits who
were supposed to be, in some way the embodiment of the life
that manifested itself in such diverse manners ; and yet, on
the other hand, this tendency would be restricted by the
experience which would point to certain spirits, as exercising a
more decisive influence upon the affairs of man than others.
The result of this would be to give a preponderance to the
worship of the sun and moon and the water, and of such
natural phenomena as rain, wind, and storms, with their accom-
paniment of thunder and lightning, as against the countless
sprites believed to be lurking everywhere. The latter, however,
would not for this reason be ignored altogether. Since every-
thing was endowed with life, there was not only a spirit of the
tree which produced the fruit, but there were spirits in every
field. To them the ground belonged, and upon their mercy
depended the success or failure of the produce. To secure the
favor of the rain and the sun was not sufficient to the agricul-
turist ; he was obliged to obtain the protection of the guardian
spirits of the soil, in order to be sure of reaping the fruit of his
TRAITS OF THE OLD BABYLONIAN PANTHEON. 49
labors. Again, when through association, the group of arable
plots grew into a hamlet, and then through continued growth
into a town, the latter, regarded as a unit by virtue of its
political organization under a chief ruler, would necessarily be
supposed to have some special power presiding over its desti-
nies, protecting it from danger, and ready to defend the rights
and privileges of those who stood immediately under its juris-
diction. Each Babylonian city, large or small, would in this
way obtain a deity devoted to its welfare, and as the city grew
in extent, absorbing perhaps others lying about, and advancing
in this way to the dignity of a district, the city's god would
correspondingly increase his jurisdiction. As it encroached
upon the domain of other local deities, it would by conquest
annihilate the latter, or reduce them to a subservient position.
The new regime would be expressed by making the conquered
deity, the servant of the victorious, or the two might be viewed
in the relation of father to son ; and again, in the event of a
peaceful amalgamation of two cities or districts, the protecting
deities might join hands in a compact, mirroring the partnership
represented by the conjugal tie. In this way, there arose in
Babylon a selection, as it were, out of an infinite variety of per-
sonified forces, manifest or concealed, that at one time may
have been objects of worship. The uniformity of the spirit
world, which is the characteristic trait of primitive Animism,
gave way to a differentiation regulated by the political develop-
ment and the social growth of Babylonia. The more important
natural forces became gods, and the inferior ones were, as a
general thing, relegated to the secondary position of mere
sprites, — like the jinns, in Arabic beliefs. Only in the case of
the guardian spirit of an entire city or district, would there
result — and even this not invariably — an elevation to the
grade of deity, in the proper sense of the word. In many cases,
however, this guardian deity might be a heavenly body, as the
moon or sun or stars, all of which were supposed to regulate
50 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
the fate of mankind or some force of nature, as the rain or the
storm ; and even if this were not originally the case, the pro-
tecting deity might, in the course of time, become identified
with one of the forces of nature ; and, if for no other reason,
simply because of the prominence which the worship of the
force in question acquired in the place. As a consequence,
the mixture of local and nature cults is so complete that it is
often impossible to distinguish the one from the other. It is
hard in many cases to determine whether the deity which is
identified with a certain city was originally a mere local spirit
watching over a certain restricted territory, or a personification
of a natural force associated in some way with a certain section
of Babylonia.
CHAPTER IV.
BABYLONIAN GODS PRIOR TO THE DAYS OF HAMMURABI.
WITH these preliminary remarks, we may turn, as the first
part of our subject, to a consideration of the oldest of the
Babylonian gods. Our main sources are the inscriptions of
the old Babylonian rulers, above referred to. These are, in
most cases, of a dedicatory character, being inscribed on statues,
cylinders, or tablets, placed in the temples or on objects —
cones, knobs, stones — presented as votive offerings to some
god. Besides the inscriptions of the rulers, we have those of
officials and others. Many of these are likewise connected
directly or indirectly with religious worship.
The advantage of the historical texts over the purely religious
ones consists in their being dated, either accurately or approxi-
mately. For this reason, the former must be made the basis for
a rational theory of the development of the Babylonian pantheon
through the various periods above instanced. The data fur-
nished by the religious texts can be introduced only, as they
accord with the facts revealed by the historical inscriptions in
each period.
Taking up the group of inscriptions prior to the union of the
Babylonian States under Hammurabi, i.e., prior to 2300 B.C., we
find these gods mentionod : Bel, Belit, Nin-khar-sag, Nin-gir-su,
also appearing as Shul-gur, Bau, Ga-sig(?)-dug, Ea, Nin-a-gal,
Nergal, Shamash, appearing also under the form Utu; A, or
Malkatu, the consort of Shamash, Nannar or Sin, Nana, Anunit,
Ishtar, Innanna or Ninni, Nina, Nin-mar, Dun-shagga, Gal-alim,
Anu, Nin-gish-zida, Nin-si-a, Nin-shakh, Lugal-banda and his
consort Nin-gul, Dumuzi-zu-aba, Nisaba, Ku(?)anna, Lugal-
erima(?), Dagan, Ishum, Umu, Pa-sag, Nin-e-gal, and Nin-gal.
52 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
Regarding these names, it may be said at once that the read-
ing, in many cases, is to be looked upon as merely provisional.
Written, as they usually are, in the ideographic " style," the
phonetic reading can only be determined when the deity in
question can be identified with one, whose name is written at
some place phonetically, or when the ideographs employed are
so grouped as to place the phonetic reading beyond doubt.
The plan to be followed in this book will be to give the
ideographic reading1 as provisional wherever the real pronuncia-
tion is unknown or uncertain. The ideographic designation of
a deity is of great value, inasmuch as the ideographs them-
selves frequently reveal the character of the god, though of
course the additional advantage is obvious when the name
appears in both the ideographic and the phonetic writing. It
will, therefore, form part of a delineation of the Babylonian
pantheon to interpret the picture, as it were, under which each
deity is viewed.
EN-LIL OR BEL.
Taking up the gods in the order named, the first one, Bel,
is also the one who appears on the oldest monuments as yet
unearthed — the inscriptions of Nippur. His name is, at this
time, written invariably as En-lil. In the Babylonian theology,
he is ' the lord of the lower world.' He represents, as it were,
the unification of the various forces whose seat and sphere of
action is among the inhabited parts of the globe, both on the
surface and beneath, for the term ' lower world ' is here used in
contrast to the upper or heavenly world. Such a conception
manifestly belongs to the domain of abstract thought, and it
may be concluded, therefore, that either the deity belongs to
an advanced stage of Babylonian culture, or that the original
view of the deity was different from the one just mentioned.
1 Indicated by separating the syllables composing the name.
BABYLONIAN GODS. 53
The latter is the case. Primarily, the ideograph Lil is used to
designate a ' demon ' in general, and En-lil is therefore the 'chief
demon.' Primitive as such a conception is, it points to some
system of thought that transcends primitive Animism, which is
characterized rather by the equality accorded to all spirits.
The antiquity of the association of En-lil with Nippur justifies
the conclusion that we have before us a local deity who,
originally the protecting spirit merely, of a restricted territory,
acquires the position of ' chief demon ' as the town of Nippur
grows to be the capitol of a large and powerful district. The
fame and sanctity of Nippur survives political vicissitudes ; and,
indeed, in proportion as Nippur loses political prestige, the
great deity of the place is released from the limitations due to
his local origin and rises to the still higher dignity of a great
power whose domain is the entire habitable universe. As
the ' lord of the lower world,' En-lil is contrasted to a god Anu,
who presides over the heavenly bodies. The age of Sargon
(3800 B.C.), in whose inscriptions En-lil already occurs, is one
of considerable culture, as is sufficiently evidenced by the
flourishing condition of art, and there can therefore be no
objection against the assumption that even at this early period,
a theological system should have been evolved which gave rise
to beliefs in great powers whose dominion embraces the * upper '
and Mower' worlds. It was because of this wide scope of
his power that he became known as Bel, i.e., the lord par
excellence ; and it is equally natural to find his worship spread
over the whole of Babylonia. In the south, the patron deity of
Lagash is designated by Gudea as " the mighty warrior of
Bel," showing the supremacy accorded to the latter. A temple
to En-lil at Lagash, and known as E-adda, 'house of the
father,' by virtue of the relationship existing between the god
of Nippur and Nin-girsu, is mentioned by Uru-kagina. The
temple is described as a lofty structure ' rising up to heaven.'
In the north, Nippur remains the place where his worship
54 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
acquired the greatest importance, so that Nippur was known
as the " land of Bel." The temple sacred to him at that place
was a great edifice, famous throughout Babylonian history as
E-Kur, *>., mountain house, in the construction of which, a long
line of Babylonian rulers took part. From Naram-Sin, ruler
of Agade, on through the period of Cassite rule, the kings of
Nippur proudly include in their titles that of ' builder of the
Temple of Bel at Nippur/ measuring their attachment to the
deity by the additions and repairs made to his sacred edifice.1
Besides the kings of Agade, the rulers of other places pay their
devotions to Bel of Nippur. So, a king of Kish, whose name
is read Alu-usharshid by Professor Hilprecht,2 brings costly
vases of marble and limestone from Elam and offers them to
Bel as a token of victory ; and this at a period even earlier
than Sargon. Even when En-lil is obliged to yield a modicum
of his authority to the growing supremacy of the patron deity
of the city of Babylon, the highest tribute that can be paid to
the latter, is to combine with his real name, Marduk, the title of
" Bel," which of right belongs to En-lil. We shall see how this
combination of En-lil, or Bel, with Marduk reflects political
changes that took place in the Euphrates Valley ; and it is a
direct consequence of this later association of the old Bel of
Nippur with the chief god of Babylon, that the original traits of
the former become obscured in the historical and religious
texts. Dimmed popular traditions, which will be set forth
in their proper place, point to his having been at one time
regarded as a powerful chieftain armed with mighty weapons,
but engaged in conflicts for the ultimate benefit of mankind.
On the whole, he is a beneficent deity, though ready to inflict
1 At the period when the kings of Ur extend their rule over Nippur, they, too, do
not omit to refer to the distinction of having been called to the service of the great
god at his temple.
2 The name signifies, ' He has founded the city,' the subject of the verb being some
deity whose name is omitted.
BABYLONIAN GODS. 55
severe punishment for disobedience to his commands. We
must distinguish, then, in the case of En-lil, at least four
phases :
1. His original role as a local deity ;
2. The extension of his power to the grade of a great 'lord '
over a large district ;
3. Dissociation from local origins to become the supreme
lord of the lower world ; and
4. The transfer of his name and powers as god of Nippur to
Marduk, the god of Babylon.
The last two phases can best be set forth when we come to
the period, marked by the political supremacy of the city of
Babylon. It is sufficient, at this point, to have made clear his
position as god of Nippur.
NINCLIL OR BELIT.
The consort of En-lil is Nin-Lil, the * mistress of the lower
world.' She is known also as Belit, the feminine form to Bel,
i.e., the lady par excellence. She, too, had her temple at Nippur,
the age of which goes back, at least, to the first dynasty of Ur.
But the glory of the goddess pales by the side of her powerful
lord. She is naught but a weak reflection of Bel, as in general
the consorts of the gods are. Another title by which this same
goddess was known is
NlN-KHAR-SAG,1
which means the 'lady of the high or great mountain.' The
title may have some reference to the great mountain where the
gods were supposed to dwell, and which was known to Baby-
1 Jensen, Keils Bibl. 3, i, p. 23, proposes to read Nin-Ur-sag, but without sufficient
reason, it seems to me. The writing being a purely ideographic form, an ., heavenly house in Girsu.2 For
Gudea, Ninni is the " mistress of the world." Another ruler
of Lagash whose name is doubtfully read as E-dingir-ra-na-gin,3
but who is even earlier than Ur-Bau, declares that he has been
'called' by Innanna to the throne. She is mentioned by the
side of Nin-khar-sag. We are still in the period where local
associations formed a controlling factor in ensuring the popu-
larity of a deity, and while the goddesses attached to the gods
of the important centers are still differentiated, the tendency
already exists to designate the female consorts simply as the
'goddess/ — to apply to all, the traits that may once have been
peculiar to one. As we pass from one age to the other, there is
an increasing difficulty in keeping the various local ' goddesses '
apart. Even the names become interchangeable ; and since
these goddesses all represented essentially the same principle
of generation and fertility, it was natural that with the union
of the Babylonian states they should become merged into one
great mother-goddess. A ' local ' goddess who retains rather
more of her individuality than others, is
1 Innanna may be separated into In =lord or lady, and nanna; in and nanna
would then be elements added to " lady," conveying perhaps the idea of greatness.
See Jensen's remarks, Kcils Bibl. 3, i, 20, note 4.
2 Rec. of the Past, N.S., ii. p. 104.
3 Keils Bill. 3, i, 16. See Jensen's note on the reading of the name.
BABYLONIAN GODS. 81
NANA.
•
Her name is again playfully interpreted by the Babylonians
. — through association with Nin — as ' the lady ' par excellence.
She was the chief goddess of the city of Uruk. Her temple at
Uruk is first mentioned by Ur-Gur, of the first dynasty of
Ur. It is restored and enlarged by Dungi, the successor of
Ur-Bau, and so thoroughly is she identified with her edifice
known as E-anna (again a play upon her name), that she
becomes known as the Lady of E-anna.1 She appears to have
had a temple also at Ur, and it is to this edifice that later
rulers of Larsa — Kudur-Mabuk and Rim-Sin, as well as the
kings of the Isin dynasty, Gamil-Ninib, Libit-Ishtar, and Ishme-
Dagan — refer in their inscriptions.
The members of the Isin dynasty pride themselves upon
their control over Uruk, and naturally appear as special devo-
tees to Nana, whose chosen "consort" they declare them-
selves to be, wielding the sceptre, as it were, in union with her.
Already at this period, Nana is brought into connection with the
moon-god, being called by Kudur-Mabuk the daughter of Sin.
The relationship in this case indicates, primarily, the supremacy
exercised by Ur, and also a similarity in the traits of the two
deities. In the fully developed cosmology, Nana is the planet
Venus, whose various aspects, as morning and evening star,
suggested an analogy with the phases of the moon.
Venus, like the moon, served as a guide to man, while her
inferiority in size and importance to the former, would natu-
rally come to be expressed under the picture of father and
daughter. In a certain sense, all the planets appearing at the
same time and in the same region with the moon were the
children of the latter. Sin, therefore, is appropriately called
1 The fame of this temple outlasts the political importance of the place, and as
late as the days of the Assyrian monarchy is an object of fostering care on the part
of the kings.
82 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
the father of gods, just as Arm, the personification of the
heaven itself, is the supreme father of Sin and Shamash, and
of all the heavenly bodies. The metaphorical application of
'father' as 'source,' throughout Oriental parlance, must be
kept in mind in interpreting the relationship between the
gods. Still another name of the goddess is Anunit, which
appears to have been peculiar to the North Babylonian city
Agade, and emphasizes her descent from "Ami," the god of
heaven. Her temple at Agade, known as E-ul-mash, is the
object of Sargon's devotion, which makes her, with Bel and
Shamash, the oldest triad of gods mentioned in the Babylonian
inscriptions. But the name which finally displaces all others, is
ISHTAR.
Where the name originated has not yet been ascertained, as
little as its etymology,1 but it seems to belong to Northern
Babylonia rather than to the south.
In time, all the names that we have been considering —
Ninni, Nana, and Anunit — became merely so many designa-
tions of Ishtar. She absorbs the titles and qualities of all, and
the tendency which we have pointed out finds its final outcome
in the recognition of Ishtar as the one and only goddess
endowed with powers and an existence independent of associa-
tion with any male deity, though even this independence does
not hinder her from being named at times as the associate of
the chief god of Assyria — the all-powerful Ashur. The attempt
has been made by Sayce and others to divide the various
names of Ishtar among the aspects of Venus as morning
and evening star, but there is no evidence to show that the
1 That the name is Semitic is no longer seriously questioned by any scholar.
The underlying stem suggests etymological relationship with the god Ashur. If
this be so, Ishtar may mean ' the goddess that brings blessing ' to mankind, but all
this is tentative, as are the numerous other etymologies suggested.
BABYLONIAN GODS. 83
Babylonians distinguished the one from the other so sharply
as to make two goddesses of one and the same planet.
It is more in accord with what, as we have seen, has been
the general character of the Babylonian pantheon, to account
for the identification of Ninni, Nana, and Anunit with Ishtar
on the supposition that the different names belonged origi-
nally to different localities. Ishtar was appropriately denomi-
nated the brilliant goddess. She is addressed as the mother
of gods, which signals her supreme position among the
female deities. 'The mistress of countries' alternating with
'the mistress of mountains,'1 is one of her common titles;
and as the growing uniqueness of her position is one of the
features of the Babylonian-Assyrian religion, it is natural that
she should become simply the goddess. This was especially
the case with the Assyrians, to whom Ishtar became a god-
dess of war and battle, the consort, at times, of the chief god
of the Assyrian pantheon. At the same time it is important
to note that the warlike character of the goddess goes back
to the time of Hammurabi (Keils Bibl. 3, i, 113), and is dwelt
upon by other Babylonian kings (c.g., Nebuchadnezzar I., c. 1 130
B.C.) prior to the rise of the Assyrian power. How Ishtar
came to take on so violent a character is not altogether clear.
There are no indications of this role in the incantation texts,
where she is simply the kind mother who is appealed to, to
release the sufferer from the power of the disease-bringing
spirits. In the prayers, as will be shown in the proper place,
she becomes the vehicle for the expression of the highest
religious and ethical thought attained by the Babylonians. On
the other hand, in the great Babylonian epic,2 dealing with
the adventures of a hero, Izdubar (or Gilgamesh), Ishtar, who
1 The ideographs for ' country ' and ' mountain ' are identical Assyrian. The
alternation in the title of Ishtar must not be taken to point to a mountainous origin
of the goddess.
2 A full account of this epic will be given at its proper place.
84 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
makes her appearance at the summer solstice, is a raging god-
dess who smites those who disobey her commands with wasting
disease. Starting with this phase of the goddess' character,
one can at least understand the process of her further develop-
ment into a fierce deity presiding over the fortunes of war.
The epic just referred to belongs to the old Babylonian period.
It embodies ancient traditions of rivalry between the Babylo-
nian principalities, though there are traces of several recastings
which the epic received. The violent Ishtar, therefore, is a
type going back to the same period as the other side of her
character that is emphasized elsewhere. Since, moreover, the
Ishtar in the Izdubar epic is none other than the chief goddess
of Uruk, all further doubt as to the union of such diverging
traits in one and the same personage falls to the ground.
In this same epic, Ishtar appears as sympathizing with the
sufferings of mankind, and bewailing the destruction that
was at one time decreed by the gods. It is noteworthy
that the violent Ishtar appears in that portion of the epic
which, on the assumption of a zodiacal interpretation for the
composition, corresponds to the summer solstice, whereas, the
destruction which arouses her sympathy takes place in the
eleventh month. It is quite possible, therefore, that the two
aspects of Venus, as evening and morning stars, corresponding,
as they do, to the summer and winter seasons, are reflected in
this double character of the goddess. We are not justified,
however, in going further and assuming that her double role as
daughter of Sin and daughter of Anu is to be accounted for in
the same manner. In the Izdubar epic, she is found in associ-
ation with Anu, and to the latter she appeals for protection as
her father, and yet it is as the daughter of Sin that she enters
the world of the dead to seek for the waters that may heal her
bridegroom, Tammuz.1 Evidently, the distinction between
1 Again, in the incantation texts she appears only as the daughter of Anu, coordi-
nate with Sin and Shamash.
BABYLONIAN GODS. 85
Ishtar as the daughter of Anu and as the daughter of Sin is not
an important one, the term daughter in both cases being a
metaphor to express a relationship both of physical nature and
of a political character. Of the various forms under which the
goddess appears, that of Anunit — a feminine form indicating
descent from and appertaining to Anu — attaches itself most
clearly to the god of heaven, and it may be that it was not
until the assimilation of Anunit and Nana with Ishtar that the
goddess is viewed as at once the daughter of Anu and of Sin.
If this be so, there is surely nothing strange in the fact that a
planet like Venus should be regarded in one place as the
daughter of heaven and in another brought into relationship
with the moon. She actually belongs to both.
Just as in Babylonia, so in Assyria, there were various
Ishtars, or rather various places where the goddess was wor-
shipped as the guardian spirit, but her role in the north is so
peculiar that all further consideration of it must be postponed
until we come to consider, in due time, the Assyrian pantheon.
There will be occasion, too, when treating of the Izdubar epic,
to dwell still further on some of her traits. All that need be
said here is to emphasize the fact that the popularity of the
Babylonian Ishtar in Assyria, as manifested by Esarhaddon's
zeal in restoring her temple at Uruk, and Ashurbanabal's restora-
tion of Nana's statue (c. 635 B.C.) which had been captured by
the Elamites 1635 years before Ashurbanabal's reign, is largely
due to the effected identity with the goddess who, for the
Assyrians, was regarded chiefly as the goddess of war and
strife. In worshipping the southern Ishtars, the Assyrian kings
felt themselves to be showing their allegiance to the same deity
to whom, next to Ashur, most of their supplications were
addressed, and of whom as warriors they stood in dread.
86 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
NINA.
A goddess who, while sharing the fate- of her sister god-
desses in being overshadowed by Ishtar, yet merits a special
treatment, is one whose name is plausibly conjectured to be
read Nina. The compound ideogram expressing the deity
signifies * house of the fish.' The word ' house ' in Semitic
parlance is figuratively extended to convey the idea of
' possessing or harboring.' Applied to a settlement, the ideo-
gram would be the equivalent of our ' Fishtown.' It is with
this same ideogram that the famous capitol of Assyria,
Nineveh, is written in the cuneiform texts, and since the
phonetic reading for the city, Ni-na-a, also occurs, it is only
legitimate to conclude that the latter is the correct reading for
the deity as well. As a matter of course, if the goddess bears
a name identical with that of a city, it cannot be the Assyrian
city which is meant in the old Babylonian inscriptions, but
some other place bearing the same name. Such a place
actually occurs in the inscriptions of Gudea. It is, in fact,
one of the three towns that combined with Shirpurla to create
the great capitol bearing the latter name; and Jensen1 has
called attention to a passage in one of Gudea's inscriptions in
which the goddess is brought into direct association with the
town, so that it would appear that Nina is the patron of Nina,
in the same way that Nin-girsu is the protector of Girsu. In keep-
ing with this we find the mention of the goddess limited to the
rulers of Lagash. Several of them — En-anna-tuma, Entemena,
and Gudea — declare themselves to have been chosen by her.
She is said to regard Gudea with special favor. She determines
destinies. Another king, Ur-Nina, embodies the name of the
goddess in his own, and devotes himself to the enlargement of her
1 Keils Bibl. 3, i, 72, note. Some scholars, as Hommel (Gcsch. d. alt. Morgen-
landes, p. 68), propose to identify this place with the Assyrian Nineveh, but the con-
jecture lacks proof and is altogether improbable.
BABYLONIAN GODS. 87
temple. From the manner in which she is associated with Nin-
girsu. aiding the latter in guarding his temple E-ninnu, and unit-
ing with the god in granting the sceptre to Gudea, one is tempted
to conclude that the two towns, Girsu and Nina, were amalga-
mated before their absorption into Lagash, so that the god
and goddess acquired the relationship to one another of
husband and consort. As for the connection between this
Babylonian Nina and the late Assyrian capital, it is quite
possible that the origin of the latter is to be traced to a settle-
ment made by inhabitants of the former, although it should be
added that there is no positive evidence that can be adduced
in support of this proposition. It accords, however, with the
northward movement of culture and civilization in Mesopotamia.
If this connection between the two Ninevehs be accepted, the
question suggests itself whether, in time, Nina did not become
merely another form of Ishtar. The Assyrian capital is fre-
quently spoken of as the * beloved city ' of Ishtar, and unless it
be supposed that this epithet simply reflects the comparatively
late popularity of the distinctively Assyrian Ishtar, the most
natural explanation would be to propose the equation Nina —
Ishtar.
In the incantation texts, Nina is frequently appealed to as
the daughter of Ea, — the god of the deep. This relationship,
as well as the interpretation of the ideogram above set forth,
points to the original character of the goddess as a water-deity.
This goddess, therefore, would be of an entirely different form
from the ones discussed in the previous paragraphs. Instead
of being a member of the heavenly pantheon, her place is with
the kingdom over which Ea presides, and whose dwelling-
place is the watery deep. In any case, Nina is originally
distinct from Ishtar, Nana, and Anunit ; and she retains an
independent existence to a later period than most of the other
great goddesses that have been discussed. In an inscription
of the days of Belnadinaplu (c. noo B.C.), published by Hil-
88 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
precht,1 Nina appears as the patron deity of Der, — a city of
Southern Babylonia. There too she is called the c daughter of Ea,'
the creator of everything. She is ' the mistress of goddesses.'
Attached to her temple there are lands that having been
wrongfully wrested from the priests are returned upon royal
command, under solemn invocation of the goddess. How her
worship came to be transferred to Der we do not know. She
appears in the inscription in question by the side of a goddess
who — following Hommel — is none other than Bau. Der is
called the city of the god Anu, and we can only suppose that
it must at one time have risen to sufficient importance to harbor
in its midst a number of deities. It is presumably2 the place
whence Nebuchadnezzar I. sets out in the twelfth century to
drive the Cassites off the throne of Babylonia. May it be
that, during the days of the foreign rule, priests attached to
the service of various of the old gods and goddesses trans-
ferred the worship of these deities to places more secure from
interference ?
Be this as it may, if our Nina has any connection with the
goddess of Nineveh, it is certain that Ishtar has retained none
of Nina's traits. The fusion in this case has been so com-
plete that naught but the faintest tradition of an original and
independent Nina has survived in the North.
ANU.
This god, who, from a theoretical point of view (as will be
shown in a subsequent chapter), was regarded as standing at
the head of the organized Babylonian pantheon, figures only
incidentally in the inscriptions prior to the days of Hammurabi.
Ur-Bau of the first dynasty of Ur, in invoking Nannar, calls
1 Old Babylonian Inscriptions, i. pis. 30, 31. (See now Peiser, Keils Bibl. 4,
pp. 64-66.)
2 Questioned by Peiser, ib.
BABYLONIAN GODS. 89
the latter 'the powerful bull of Anu.' The reference is inter-
esting, for it shows that already in these early days the position
of Ann, as the god of the heavenly expanse, was fixed. The
moon appearing in the heavens, and the resemblance of its
crescent to a bull's horn,1 are the two factors that account for
the expressive epithet used by Ur-Bau. That the worship of
the god of heaven par excellence should not have enjoyed great
popularity in the early days of the Babylonian religion might
seem strange at first sight. A little reflection, however, will
make this clear. A god of the heavens is an abstract concep-
tion, and while it is possible that even in an early age, such a
conception may have arisen in some minds, it is not of a
character calculated to take a popular hold. As we proceed
in our attempt to trace the development of the Babylonian
religion, we will find the line of demarcation separating the
theological system, as evolved by the schoolmen, from the
popular phases of the religion, becoming more marked. In the
inscriptions of the old Babylonian rulers, comparatively little of
the influence of the Babylonian theologians is to be detected.
Even the description of the moon as the bull of heaven falls
within the domain of popular fancy. It is different in the days
after Hammurabi, when political concentration leads to the
focussing of intellectual life in the Euphrates Valley, with all
the consequences that the establishment of a central priesthood,
with growing powers over ever-increasing territory, involves.
It is to be noted, moreover, that the manner in which in the
old Babylonian inscriptions Anu is written,2 indicates that
the abstraction involved in the conception of a god of heaven
had not yet been reached, though some measure of personi-
fication was of course inevitable at a time when animistic
1 Among many nations the moon is pictured as a horned animal. See Robert
Brown's interesting monograph on The Unicorn, pp. 27 seq. ct passim ; also above,
P- 7<">.
2 Simply the sign AN (=god, heaven) and the phonetic complement na.
90 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
notions still held sway. A direct indication of this per-
sonification of heaven without the deification appears in
the epithet * child of Anu,' bestowed upon the goddess
Bau. The reference to the heavens in this connection is
an allusion to Bau's position as the patroness of that quarter
of Lagash known as the 'brilliant town,'1 and where Bau's
temple stood. The transference of the quality of ' brilliancy '
from the town to the goddess would be expressed by calling
the latter the offspring of that part of visible nature which is
associated in the mind with ' brilliancy.' Somewhat mysterious,
and still awaiting a satisfactory explanation, is the title * sacri-
ficer,' or * priest of Anu,' which one of the rulers of Lagash,
Ur-Nin-girsu, assumes. It is scarcely possible that the god of
heaven can be meant ; and, on the other hand, if we are to
assume merely a personification of heaven, we encounter fresh
difficulties. It seems to me that the use of Anu2 here is
purely metaphorical for ' high ' or ' lofty,' and that the king
merely wishes to emphasize the dignity of his station by
declaring himself to be the heavenly priest, somewhat as we
should say * priest by divine grace/ or f supreme priest.'
NlN-SI3-A.
Ur-Bau and Gudea alone of the ancient rulers refer to this
god. The former erects a temple in honor of the god in some
quarter of his capitol city, while the latter emphasizes the
strength that the god has given him. These references, how-
ever, show that the god must have been of considerable impor-
tance, and in this case, his disappearance from the later
pantheon is probably due to the absorption of his role by the
1 See above, p. 59.
2 Written An-na, without the determinative for deity. De Sarzec, Decouvertes en
Chaldee, pi. 37, no. 8.
3 The second element may also be read dar. See Jensen, Keils Bibl. 3, i, p. 24,
note i.
BABYLONIAN GODS. 91
greater god of Lagash, — Nin-girsu. Like Nin-girsu, Nin-si-a
was a god of war, and his worship, imported perhaps from
some ancient site to Lagash, falls into desuetude, as the
attribute accorded to him becomes the distinguishing trait of
the chief deity of the place.
GAL-ALIM.
Among the various deities to whom Gudea gives praise for
the position and glory which he attains is Gal-alim.1 From
him he has received great rule and a lofty sceptre. The
phrase is of a very general nature and reveals nothing as to
the special character of the god in question. An earlier king,
Uru-kagina, refers to the temple of the god at LagaSh. Gal-alim
may have been again a merely local deity belonging to one of the
towns that fell under Gudea's rule, and whose attributes again
were so little marked that this god too disappeared under the
overshadowing importance of Nin-girsu. He and another god,
Dun-shagga, aie viewed as the sons of Nin-girsu.
Coming to some of the deities that we may designate as
minor, it is to be noted that in the case of certain ones, at least,
it will be found that they may be identified with others more
prominent, and that what seem to be distinct names are in
reality descriptive epithets of gods already met with. This
remark applies more particularly to such names as begin with
the element Nin, signifying either 'lord' or 'lady,' and which,
when followed by the name of a place, always points to its
being a title, and, when followed by an ideographic compound,
only diminishes that probability to a slight degree. We have
already come across several instances ; thus Nin-girsu, the
1 Inscription B, col. ii. 19.
92 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
lord of Girsu, has been shown to be a form of Ninib, itself an
ideogram, the reading of which, it will be recalled, is still
uncertain; and again, Nin-khar-sag has been referred to, as
one of the titles of the great goddess Belit. Similarly, Nin-
gish-zida, whose name signifies ' the lord of the right-hand (or
propitious) sceptre,' becomes a title and not a name, and
when Gudea speaks of this god as the one who leads him to
battle, and calls him * king,' he is simply describing the
same god who is elsewhere spoken of as Nin-girsu. By the
side of Nin-girsu and Nin-gish-zida appears Nin-shakh, who, as
Oppert l has shown, is like Nin-girsu the prototype of the well-
known god of war, Ninib. However, Nin-shakh occupies, in
contradistinction to Nin-gish-zida and others, a position in the
old Babylonian pantheon of an independent character, so that
it is hardly justifiable, in such a case, to identify him com-
pletely with Ninib, and place the name on a par with the
epithets just referred to. The dividing line between the mere
title and an independent god thus becomes at times very faint,
and yet it is well to maintain it whenever called for. In the
following enumeration of the minor gods of the old Babylonian
pantheon, the attempt will be made to bring out this distinction
in each instance.
Beginning with
NIN-SHAKH
the element Nin, as has several times been mentioned, points
to an ideographic form. The second element signifies ' wild
boar,' and from other sources we know that this animal was
a sacred one in Babylonia, as among other Semitic nations.2
Its flesh, on certain days of the Babylonian calendar, was
1 See Hommel, Scmitische Kulturen, p. 389.
2 For the sacred character of the swine among the Semites, see W. Robertson
Smith's The Religion of the Semites, pp. 201, 272. 332, 457. Rawlinson, iii. 68, 22,
occurs a deity, ' swine of the right hand,' i.e., propitious.
BABYLONIAN GODS. 93
forbidden to be eaten, from which we are permitted to conclude
that these days were dedicated to the animal, and the prohibi-
tion represents perhaps the traces of some old religious festival.
May Nin-shakh therefore have been a ' swine deity,' just as
Nergal is symbolized by the ' lion ' ? In both cases the animal
would be a symbol of the violent and destructive character of
the god.
The ferocious character of the ' swine ' would naturally
result in assigning to Nin-shakh warlike attributes ; and as a
matter of fact he is identified at times with Ninib. His subor-
dinate position, however, is indicated by his being called the
'servant,' generally of En-lil, occasionally also of Anu, and as
such he bears the name of Pap-sukal,1 *>., ' divine messenger.'
Rim-Sin builds a temple to Nin-shakh at Uruk, and from its
designation as his 'favorite dwelling place' we may conclude
that Rim-Sin only restores or enlarges an ancient temple of the
deity. In the light of this, the relationship above set forth
between Nin-girsu, Nin-gish-zida, and Nin-shakh becomes some-
what clearer. The former, the local deity of Girsu, would natu-
rally be called by the kings ' the lord of the true sceptre,' while
the subordination of Girsu as a quarter of Lagash finds its reflec-
tion in the relationship of master and servant pictured as
existing between En-lil and Nin-girsu. Again, the warlike
character of the patron deity of Girsu would lead to an identi-
fication with Nin-shakh of Uruk, possessing the same traits ;
and the incorporation of Uruk as a part of the same empire
which included Lagash and its quarters, would be the last
link bringing about the full equation between the three. With
Ninib — the solar deity — coming into prominence as the god
of war, all three names, Nin-girsu, Nin-gish-zida, and Nin-
1 Rawlinson, ii. 59, 23. The second element in Pap-sukal is the common Baby-
lonian word for 'servant,' or 'messenger'; other deities therefore standing in a
subsidiary position are also called Pap-sukal. So e.g., Nebo and Nusku. See
further on and compare Hommel, Scmitcn, pp. 479, 480.
94 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
shakh, would be regarded by a later age as merely descriptive
of one and the same god.
DUN-SHAGGA.
Gudea makes mention in one of his inscriptions, by the side
of Nin-gish-zida, of a god Dun-shagga,1 whose name signifies
the ' chief hero,' but the phonetic reading of which it is impos-
sible to determine.2 Like Nin-gish-zida, he is a warlike god,
and from that one might suppose that he too is only another
form of Nin-girsu-Ninib. At all events, he did not differ
materially from the latter. It is from him, that Gudea again
declares his power to be derived, just as elsewhere he accords
to Nin-girsu this distinction. The element * Dun,' which is
very much the same as * Nin,' speaks in favor of regarding
Dun-shagga as a title ; but, in default of positive evidence, it
will not be out of place to give him an independent position,
and to regard his identification with Nin-girsu as a later phase
due to the extension of Nin-girsu's jurisdiction and his corre-
sponding absorption of a varying number of minor gods. This
tendency on the part of the greater gods to absorb the minor
ones is as distinctive a trait in the development of the Baby-
lonian religion, as is the subordination of one god to the other,
whether expressed by making the subordinate god the consort,
the chief, or the servant of a superior one. We have seen
that such terms of relationship correspond to certain degrees
of political conditions existing between the conquering and the
conquered districts. Amalgamation of two cities or districts
is portrayed in the relation of the two patron deities as hus-
band and wife, the stronger of the two being the former, the
1 Inscription B, col. iii. 2.
2 Uru-kagina, earlier than Gudea (de Sarzec, pi. 32), appears to have built a temple
to Dun-shagga, but the passage is not altogether clear. The element also appears
in the name of the ruler of Ur, Dungi, *'.£., ' the legitimate hero,' as Sargon is the
' legitimate king.'
BABYLONIAN GODS. 95
more subservient pictured as the latter. The more pronounced
superiority of the one place over the other finds expression in
the relation of father to child, while that of master and servant
emphasizes the complete control exercised by the one over the
other. Lastly, the absorption of one deity into another, is
correlative either with the most perfect form of conquest, or
the complete disappearance of the seat of his worship in
consequence of the growing favor of one possessing sufficiently
similar qualities to warrant identification with the other.
LUGAL-BANDA.
Sin-gashid of the dynasty of Uruk makes mention of this
deity at the beginning of one of his inscriptions. To him
and to his consort, Nin-gal, a temple as 'the seat of their
joy' at that place. This association of the god with the
town points again to a local deity, but possessing a character
which leads to the absorption of the god in the solar god,
Nergal, whom we have already encountered, and who will
occupy us a good deal when we come to the period after
Hammurabi. The identification of the two is already fore-
shadowed in an inscription of another member of the same
dynasty, Sin-gamil, who places the name of Nergal exactly
where his predecessor mentions Lugal-banda. The first ele-
ment in his name signifies 'king,' the second apparently ' strong/
so that in this respect, too, the god comes close to Nergal,
whose name likewise indicates 'great lord.' The consort of
Lugal-banda is
NlN-GUL.
Her name signifies 'the destructive lady,' — an appropriate
epithet for the consort of a solar deity. It is Sin-gashid again
who associates Ningul with Lugal-banda, and emphasizes his
affection for the goddess by calling her his mother. In one
96 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
inscription, moreover, Sin-gashid addresses himself exclusively
to the goddess, who had an equal share in the temple at Uruk.
DUMUZI-ZU-ABA.
Among the deities appealed to by Ur-Bau appears one whose
name is to be interpreted as the * unchangeable child of the
watery deep.' The great god of the deep we have seen is Ea.
Dumuzi-zu-aba therefore belongs to the water-deities, and one
who, through his subordinate rank to Ea, sinks to the level
of a water-spirit. Ur-Bau declares himself to be the darling
of this deity, and in the town of Girsu he erects a temple to
him. Girsu, however, was not the patron city of the god,
for Ur-Bau gives Dumuzi-zu-aba, the appellation of * the lord of
Kinunira,' l a place the actual situation of which is unknown.
Dumuzi-zu-aba, accordingly, is to be regarded as a local deity
of a place which, situated probably on an arm of the Euphrates,
was the reason for the watery attributes assigned to the god.
The comparative insignificance of the place is one of the
factors that accounts for the minor importance of the god, and
the second factor is the popularity enjoyed by another child of
the great Ea, his child par excellence, Marduk, who is best
known as the patron god of the city of Babylon. By the side
of Marduk, the other children of Ea, the minor water-deities,
disappear, so that to a later generation Dumuzi-zu-aba appears
merely as a form of Marduk. With Dumuzi-zu-aba, we must be
careful not to confuse
DUMU-ZI,
who in the old Babylonian inscriptions is mentioned once by
Sin-iddina,2 in connection with the sun-god. Dumu-zi, signify-
ing 'child of life,' has a double aspect — an agricultural deity
1 Signifying, according to Jensen, Keils Bibl. 3, i, p. 25, ' fighting-place.'
2 Published by Delitzsch, Beitrcigc zur Assyr. i. 301-311.
BABYLONIAN GODS. 97
and at the same time a god of the lower world. He plays an
important part in the eschatological literature of the Baby-
lonians, but hardly none at all in the historical and incantation
texts. A fuller treatment may therefore be reserved for a future
chapter.
LUGAL-ERIMA.
A purely local deity, if the reading and interpretation offered
by Jensen, ' King of the city Erim,' is correct. The mention
of the deity in an inscription of Ur-Bau, who calls himself the
' beloved servant ' of this god, would be due to the circum-
stance that the district within which the city in question lay
was controlled by the rulers of Lagash. To invoke as large a
number of deities as possible was not only a means of securing
protection from many sides, but was already in the early days
of Babylonian history indulged in by rulers, as a means of
emphasizing the extent and manifold character of their juris-
diction.
NlN-E-GAL AND NlNGAL.
A temple was erected to Nin-e-gal by the wife of Rim-Sin,
of the second dynasty of Ur and Akkad. Her name as inter-
preted in the tablet dedicated to her, signifies again, as in
several cases already noted, 'great lady.' She was probably
therefore only the consort of some patron deity ; and Nannar
being the most prominent god invoked by Rim-Sin, it would
seem that the goddess to whom the queen pays her respects is
again one of the consorts of the moon-god.1 This conclusion
is supported by the direct association of Nannar of Ur and
Ningal in an inscription emanating from an earlier member of
the same dynasty to which Rim-Sin belongs. Nur-Ramman
speaks of building temples to these deities in the city of Ur.
Hence the goddess is also represented as interceding with
1 So also Jensen, Kosmologie, p. 14, note 3.
98 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
Sin on behalf of those who appeal to her. The form Nin-
e-gal is but a variant of Nin-gal, so that the identification
of the two lies beyond doubt, and it may very well be that
the temple erected by the consort of Rim-Sin is the same
as the one referred to by Nur-Ramman. In a land where
polygamy was a prevailing custom, the gods too might be
represented as having a number of consorts. There would
of course be, just as in human relations, one chief consort, but
there might be others ranged at the side of the latter.1 Some
of these may have been consorts of other minor deities, wor-
shipped in the same district, and who were given to the more
important divinity as he gradually overshadowed the others.
In this way, we may account for the large variety of ' ladies '
and ' great ladies ' met with in the Babylonian pantheon, and
who, being merely ' reflections ' of male deities, with no
sharply marked traits of their own, would naturally come to be
confused with one another, and finally be regarded as various
forms of one and the same goddess. Still another member of
the second dynasty of Ur, En-anna-tuma, earlier even than
Nur-Ramman, invokes Nin-gal in an inscription found in the
ancient capital, Ur. Here, too, the goddess appears in associa-
tion with Nannar ; but, curiously enough, she is designated as
the mother of Shamash. It will be borne in mind that in the
city of Ur, the sun-god occupied a secondary place at the side
of the moon-god. This relationship is probably indicated by
the epithet ' offspring of Nin-gal,' accorded to Shamash in the
inscription referred to. The moon being superior to the sun,
the consort of the moon-god becomes the mother of the sun-
god.
Reference has several times been made to
l So Anu appears to have concubines.
BABYLONIAN GODS. 99
NlN-GISH-ZIDA,
who, originally a distinct solar deity, becomes scarcely distin-
guishable from Nin-girsu, and is eventually identified with the
great Nin-ib.1 It is noticeable that these four deities, Nin-
girsu, Nin-shakh, Nin-gish-zida, and Nin-ib, who are thus asso-
ciated together, all contain the element Nin in their names, —
a factor that may turn out to be of some importance when
more abundant material shall be forthcoming for tracing their
development in detail. One of Gudea's inscriptions2 begins
with the significant statement, ' Nin-gish-zida is the god of
Gudea'; and elsewhere when speaking of him, he is 'my god,'
or ' his god.' None of the ancient Babylonian rulers make
mention of him except Gudea, though in the incantation texts
he is introduced and significantly termed 'the throne-bearer' of
the earth. The purely local character of the deity is, further-
more, emphasized by the reference to his temple in Girsu, on a
brick and on a cone containing dedicatory inscriptions, inscribed
by Gudea in honor of the god.3
SHUL-PA-UDDU.
The wife of the famous Gudea, Gin-Shul-pa-uddu, bears a
name in which one of the elements is a deity, the phonetic
reading of whose name is still uncertain.4 The elements com-
prising it, namely, ' lord ' (?), ' sceptre,' and ' radiant,' leave little
doubt as to the solar character of the god. Besides Gudea's
wife, a ruler, Ur-Shul-pa-uddu,5 belonging apparently to a some-
what earlier period, embodies this deity in his name. The wor-
ship of the deity, therefore, belongs to a very early epoch, and
1 See above, pp. 92, 93. 2 Inscription C.
3 De Sarzec, pi. 37, no. 5 ; Trans. Soc. Bibl. Arch. vi. 279.
4 Jensen, Kosmologie, p. 127, proposes to read Umun-pauddu.
5 Hilprecht, Old Babylonian Inscriptions, i. 2, no. 93. The name also appears in
syllabaries as Shul-pa-ud-du-a. For the element pa-udda, see p. 103. In Nergal's
name Shid-lam-ta-uddu-a (p. 65), the same final elements are found which appear to be
characteristic epithets of solar deities. The first element in the name has also the
value Dun (as in Dun-gi).
100 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
appears at one time to have enjoyed considerable popularity
within a certain district of Babylonia. To what region of
Babylonia he belongs has not yet been ascertained. Judging
from analogous instances, he represented some phase of the sun
worshipped in a particular locality, whose cult, with the disap-
pearance of the place from the surface of political affairs,
yielded to the tendency to concentrate sun-worship in two or
three deities, — Shamash and Ninib more especially. In the
astronomy of the Babylonians the name survived as a desig-
nation of Marduk-Jupiter.1
NIN-MAR.
A local deity, designated as the lady of Mar, is invoked by
Ur-Bau, from whom we learn that she was the daughter of
Nina. Mar, with the determinative for country, Ki, appears
to have been the name of a district extending to the Persian
Gulf.2 The capital of the district is represented by the mound
Tel-Id, not far from Warka. Her subsidiary position is indi-
cated in these words, and we may conclude that Nin-Mar at
an early period fell under the jurisdiction of the district in
which Nina was supreme. For all that, Nin-Mar, or the city
in which her cult was centralized, must have enjoyed consider-
able favor. Ur-Bau calls her the ' gracious lady,' and erects a
temple, the name of which, Ish-gu-tur,3 i.e., according to Jensen's
plausible interpretation, ' the house that serves as a court for
all persons,-' points to Mar as a place of pilgrimage to which
people came from all sides. Gudea, accordingly, does not omit
to include ' the lady of Mar ' in his list of the chief deities to
whom he pays his devotions ; and on the assumption of the
general favor in which the city of Mar stood as a sacred town,
we may account for the fact that a much later ruler, Dungi,
of the dynasty of Ur,4 erects a temple to her honor.
1 Jensen, Kosmologie, pp. 125, 126.
2 See Journal Asiatique, September-October, 1895, p. 393.
3 De' Sarzec, pi. 8, col. v. 11. 8-12. * JR. pi. 2, no. 4.
BABYLONIAN GODS. 101
PA-SAG.
A deity, the phonetic reading of whose name is unknown, or
at all events uncertain,1 is mentioned once by Gudea in the
long list of deities that has been several times referred to.
The ideographs with which his name is written designate him
as a chief of some kind, and in accord with this, Gudea calls
him ' the leader of the land.' Pa-sag is mentioned immediately
after the sun-god Utu, and in view of the fact that another
solar deity, I-shum, whom we shall come across in a future
chapter, is designated by the same title 2 as Pa-sag, it seems
safe to conclude that the latter is likewise a solar deity, and in
all probability, the prototype of I-shum, if not indeed identical
with him.
NISABA (OR NIDABA).
In a dream which the gods send to Gudea, he sees among
other things, a goddess, whose name may be read Nisaba or
Nidaba.3 Nina, who interprets the dream to the ruler of
Shirpurla, declares that Nisaba is her sister. In a text belong-
ing to a still earlier age, the deity is mentioned as the begetter
of a king whose name is read Lugal-zaggisi.4 From the man-
ner in which the name of the goddess is written, as well as
from other sources, we know that Nisaba is an agricultural
deity. In. historical texts she plays scarcely any role at all, but
in incantations she is often referred to ; and from the fact that
Nisaba is appealed to, to break the power of the demons in
conjunction with Ea, it would appear that the position once
occupied by her was no insignificant one. Nin-girsu, it will
1 Jensen regards Pa-sag as a possible phonetic form, but his view is hardly
tenable.
a See Zimmern, Busspsalmen, pp. 60, 61.
3 Cylinder A, cols. iv. and v. Amiaud read the name Nirba.
4 Just published by Hilprecht, Old Babylonian Inscriptions, i. 2, pis. 38-42. Cf. p. 52.
102 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGWiV.
be recalled, has also traits which connect him with agricultural
life, and Nina being the daughter of Nin-si-a, one of the forms
under which Ningirsu-Ninib appears, we may connect Nisaba
directly with the cults of which Lagash formed the center.
Nisaba must have been the consort of one of the agricultural
gods, whose jurisdiction falls within Gudea's empire. Lugal-
zaggisi, as the king of Uruk, assigns to the goddess a first
place. Her origin must, therefore, be sought in this region.
In later days the name of the goddess is used to describe the
fertility of the soil in general. So Ashurbanabal, describing
the prosperity existing in his days, says that grain was abundant
through the ' increase of Nisaba.' l
KU(?)-ANNA.
A goddess of this name — reading of the first sign doubtful —
is mentioned by Ur-Bau, who builds a temple to her in Girsu. If
Amiaud is correct in his reading of the first sign, the goddess
was identified at one time by the Babylonians with the consort of
Ramman — the storm-god. This would accord with the descrip-
tion that Ur-Bau gives of the goddess. She is the one who
deluges the land with water — belonging therefore to the same
order as Bau.
In a list of deities enumerated by a ruler of Erech, Lugal-
zaggisi,2 are found (i) a local goddess,
UMU,
designated as the * priestess of Uruk,' 3 and occupying an
inferior rank to (2) a goddess,
1 VR. col. i. 48.
2 See at close of chapter vi.
3 Hilprecht, ib. no. 87, col. i. 30.
BABYLONIAN GODS. 103
NlN-AKHA-KUDDU,1
who is called ' the mistress of Uruk.' The importance of Erech
in the early history of Babylonia is emphasized by the inscrip-
tions from Nippur, recently published by Dr. Hilprecht. It is
natural, therefore, to find several deities of a purely local type
commemorated by kings who belong to this region. The
goddess Umu is not heard of again. The great goddess of
Uruk, Nana, absorbs the smaller ones, and hence Nin-akha-
kuddu survives chiefly in incantation texts as ' the lady of
shining waters,' of ' purification,' and of ' incantations.' 2
Lastly, a passing reference may be made to several deities
to whom sanctuaries are erected by Uru-Kagina in the great
temple of Bau at Uru-azaga, and whom Amiaud regards as
sons of Bau.
Uru-Kagina enumerates three, Za-za-uru, Im-pa-ud-du, and
Gim-nun-ta-ud-du-a.3 The element ud-du in the last two names
signifies ' radiant ' or * rising up '; while pa-ud-du (like in Shul-
pa-ud-du, p. 99) means ' radiant sceptre.' If to this, we add
that Im is ' storm,' it will appear plausible to see in the second
name a form of a raging solar deity and perhaps also in the
third ; gim nun in the latter name may mean ' creating lord.'
To these Amiaud4 adds from other sources, Khi-gir-nunna,
Khi-shaga, Gurmu, and Zarmu. He takes these seven deities
as sons of Bau, but he offers no conclusive evidence for his
theory. Some of these deities may turn out to be synonymous
with such as have already been met with.
1 Ib. i. 32. Hilprecht reads Nin-a-gid-kha-du, but this can hardly be correct.
2 The two ideas, ' water ' and ' incantation,' are correlated. The ' waters ' meant
are those used for purification purposes in connection with the magic formulas.
3 De Sarzec.pl. 32, col. ii. 9-11.
4 Records of the Past, N.S., i. 59. Amiaud reads the second name Im-ghud-ena
and the third Gim (or Ur)-nun-ta-ena. The publication in De Sarzec favors my
readings.
CHAPTER V.
THE CONSORTS OF THE GODS.
ATTENTION has already been directed to the comparatively
small number of female deities that appear in the inscriptions of
the first period of Babylonian history. We must, however, not
conclude from this, that such deities did not exist in larger num-
bers. On the contrary, we may feel certain that every god had his
consort, and in some cases more than one. Several instances
of such consorts have been furnished in this chapter ; but if
the consorts of the larger number of these gods are unknown,
it is because of the insignificant role that these consorts played.
The goddesses of Babylonia, with few exceptions, become mere
shadowy reflections of the gods, with but little independent
power, and in some cases none at all. They owe what popu-
larity they enjoyed to their association with their male com-
panions. In consequence of this inferior role played by the
female deities, the tendency becomes more pronounced, as we
pass from the first to the second period of Babylonian history,
to reduce by assimilation the small number that have indepen-
dent attributes, until we reach a condition in which we have
practically only one goddess, appearing under many forms. It
is only in the religious texts, and in some phases of the popular
beliefs, that goddesses retain a certain degree of prominence.
So, a goddess Allat, as we shall see, plays an important part
as the chief goddess of the subterranean cave that houses the
dead. Allat appears to have been originally a consort of the
famous Bel of Nippur, but through association with Nergal,
who becomes the chief god of the lower world, almost all traces
of the original character of the goddess disappear. Again,
THE CONSORTS OF THE GODS. 105
Gula, the consort of Nin-ib, while occasionally mentioned in
the historical texts of the second and third period, and under the
form Ma-ma, as an element in a proper name belonging to the
oldest period,1 is more frequently invoked in incantations as the
healer of disease. The same is the case with other goddesses ;
so that we may conclude that from the earliest times, the Baby-
lonian religion scared the trait so marked in all Semitic cults, of a
combination of the male and female principle in the personifica-
tion of the powers that controlled the fate of man. In part, no
doubt, the minor importance of women, so far as the outward
aspects of social and political life were concerned, is a factor in
the altogether secondary importance attaching to the consorts of
the gods ; but we may feel certain that there was no god, how-
ever restricted in his jurisdiction, or however limited in the
number of his worshippers, who had not associated with him a
female companion, who follows him as the shadow follows the
substance.
1 According to Hilprecht, ib. p. 48, note 6. For Ma-ma and Me-me, as names
of Gula, see chapter viii.
CHAPTER VI.
GUDEA'S PANTHEON.
•
GUDEA manifests a fondness for giving to his pantheon as
large a compass as possible. In this respect, he follows earlier
examples, and also sets an example which is followed by many of
the rulers of Babylonia and Assyria, who felt that the larger the
number of gods invoked by them, the more impressive would
their own position appear in the eyes of their subjects. More-
over, by incorporating in their pantheon the gods associated with
districts that they controlled, they would not only secure the pro-
tection of these deities, but would emphasize their own claim
to an extended sovereignty. The beginning and the close of
dedicatory and commemorative inscriptions were the favorite
opportunities, seized upon by the kings, for parading the list
of the powers under whose patronage they wished to appear.
These lists are both interesting and valuable, as furnishing in a
convenient form a summary of the chief gods included in the
Babylonian pantheon at the various historical periods. At the
close of one of his inscriptions,1 Gudea furnishes a list of no
less than eighteen deities. In rapid succession he enumerates
Anu, En-lil (Bel), Nin-khar-sag, En-ki (Ea), En-zu (Sin), Nin-
girsu, Nina, Nin-si-a, Ga-sig-dug, Bau, Ninni, Utu (Shamash),
Pa-sag, Gal-alim, Dun-shagga, Nin-Mar, Dumuzi-zuaba, Nin-
gish-zida. These deities may be taken as indicative of the
territorial extent of Gudea's jurisdiction. They are called upon
to punish him who attempts to alter the decrees of the ruler, or
to efface the memory of his deeds. Again, at the beginning
of one of his inscriptions, he appeals to Nin-girsu, En-lil, Nina,
1 Inscr. B, cols. viii. ix.
GUDEA'S PANTHEON. 107
Bau, Ga-sig-dug, Gal-alim, and Dun-shagga. He recounts
what he has done to promote the cults of these deities, and
upon his conduct he grounds his hope that they will aid him in
his undertakings. The lists, as will be observed, vary in the
number and in the order of the gods enumerated. In the
second list, the position of Nin-girsu at the head is due to the
fact that the inscription commemorates the dedication of a
sanctuary to that god. But Nin-girsu, despite his rank as the
chief god of Lagash, belongs to a second class of deities.
Standing far above him is the triad, Anu, Bel, and Ea, the
gods that personify, as we have seen, the great divisions of the
universe, — heaven, earth, and water. These gods, accordingly,
take precedence of Nin-girsu in the first list. In a succeeding
chapter, the significance of this triad for the Babylonian religion
will be fully set forth. For the present, it is sufficient to note
that the systematization of popular beliefs, involved in the
distinctions thus emphasized in the groupings of deities into
classes, begins at so early a period. This systematization,
however, has not yet assumed final shape. True, the moon-
god has already been given the place, immediately following
upon the triad, that he will hold in the developed form of Baby-
lonian theology ; but while, as we have seen, Sin properly takes
precedence of the sun-god, the latter should follow in the wake
of his associate. Not only, however, does Nin-girsu precede,
but two other deities who are closely related in general char-
acter to the ' warrior deity ' of Gudea's dominion. Then the
two great goddesses, Bau and Ninni, are introduced, and it is
not until they are disposed of that the sun-god, together again
with Pa-sag as a kind of lieutenant,1 is invoked. In the
arrangement of the five remaining deities, no special principle
can be recognized. They, evidently, occupy a minor rank. It
is possible, then, to distinguish no less than four classes in the
old Babylonian pantheon : (i) the great triad, Anu, Bel, and Ea ;
1 See above, p. 101.
108 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
(2) a second group, as yet incomplete, but which will eventually
include Sin, Shamash, and Ramman, representing the great
powers of nature — moon, sun, and storm ; (3) the great gods,
the patron deities of the more important political centers of
the country ; and (4) the minor ones, representing the local
cults of less important places. Naturally, the dividing line
between the two last-named classes is not sharply marked, and
in accordance with the ever-varying political kaleidoscope, local
deities will rise from the rank of minor gods to a higher place
in the pantheon ; while such as once enjoyed high esteem will,
through decline in the political fortunes of their worshippers,
be brought down from the higher to an inferior rank.1 It is
this constant interaction between the political situation and the
relationship of the gods to one another, that constitutes one of
the most striking features of the religion of Babylonia and
Assyria. In the course of time, as an organized pantheon
leads to greater stability in the domain of theological specula-
tion, the influence of the politics of the country on the religion
becomes less marked, without, however, disappearing altogether.
The various classes into which the gods are divided, are definitely
fixed by the schools of theology that, as we shall see, take
their rise in the Euphrates Valley. The rivalry, on the one
hand, between the Babylonian empire united under one head,
and the Assyrian empire on the other, alone remains to bring
about an occasional exchange of places between the two gods
who stand at the head of the great gods of the Babylonian and
Assyrian pantheon respectively. The attempt has been made
by Amiaud 2 to arrange the pantheon of this oldest period in a
genealogical order. In Gudea's long list of deities, he detects
three generations, — the three chief gods and one goddess, as
the progenitors of Sin, Shamash, Nin-girsu, Bau, and others.
1 See \Yinckler's excellent remarks on the relationship between the city and the god
in ancient Babylonia (AUorientalische Forschungen, iii. 232-235).
2 Records of the Past, N.S., i. 57-59.
GUDEA'S PANTHEON. 109
The gods of this second division give rise to a third class,
viewed again as the offspring of the second. Professor Davis,
taking up this idea of Amiaud, has quite recently maintained l
that the family idea must form our starting-point for an under-
standing of the pantheon of Lagash. The theory, however,
does not admit of consistent application. There are gods, as
Amiaud recognized, who cannot be brought under his scheme,
so far at least as present testimony is concerned ; and others
can only by an arbitrary assumption be forced into accord with
the theory. Moreover, we should expect to find traces of this
family idea in the later phases of the Assyro-Babylonian pan-
theon. Such, however, is not the case. A more reasonable
and natural explanation of the relationship existing between
many — not all — of the gods of Gudea's pantheon has already
been suggested. In part, we must look to the development of
a theological system of thought in the Euphrates Valley to
account for the superior position accorded to certain gods, and
in part, political conditions and political changes afford an
explanation for the union of certain deities into a family
group. So far, indeed, Amiaud is correct, that the relationship
existing between the various deities, was as a rule expressed in
terms applicable to human society. The secondary position
occupied, e.g., by Sin when compared with a god whose domain
is the entire ' lower regions,' would be aptly expressed by
calling the moon-god the eldest son of En-lil or Bel ; and,
similarly, a goddess like Bau would be called the daughter of
Anu. It is a mistake, however, to interpret the use of ' daugh-
ter ' and ' son ' literally. Such terms are employed in all Semitic
languages in a figurative sense, to indicate a dependent position
of some sort. Again, we have seen that the union of a number
of cities or states under one head would be followed by a union
of the deities proper to these cities or states. That union would
1 In a paper on " The Gods of Shirpurla," read before the American Oriental
Society in April, 1895. (Proceedings, ccxiii-ccxviii.)
110 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
be expressed, according to circumstances, either by placing the
deities on a footing of equality — in which case they would be
consorts, or brothers and sisters, offsprings therefore of one
and the same god — or, the superior rank of one patron god
would be indicated by assigning to the god of a conquered or
subordinate territory the rank of offspring or attendant.
In studying such a list as that presented by Gudea, we must,
therefore, make due allowance for what may be called local
peculiarities and local conditions. It is only by comparing his
list with others that we can differentiate between the general
features of Babylonian cults and the special features due to
political and local associations. We are in a position now to
institute this comparison for a period which is certainly some
centuries earlier than Gudea. The date of the reign of Lugal-
zaggisi, king of Uruk, who has been several times referred to
in a previous chapter, is fixed by Hilprecht at c. 4500 B.C.,
but it is doubtful whether so high an age will be accepted
by scholars. The chronology for the period beyond Gudea is
still in a very uncertain condition. Lugal-zaggisi, in a long list
of deities at the beginning of an important inscription, enumer-
ates in succession Anu, the goddess Nisaba, the gods En-lil
(or Bel), En-ki (=Ea), En-zu (Sin), Utu (the sun-god), the
goddess Ninni (or Nana[?]), Nin-khar-sag, Umu, and Nin-akha-
kuddu. As for Anu, the king introduces the name, as Ur-
Ningirsu of Lagash does (see above, p. 90), in calling himself
' priest of Anu,' and which, according to the explanation sug-
gested, means simply * divine priest.'
Bel, Ea, Sin, and Shamash (or Utu) are common to Gudea
and Lugal-zaggisi. These constitute, then, the great gods
whose worship is no longer limited to any particular district.
They have become common property, in part through the sanc-
tity attached to the places where the gods were worshipped,
in part through the antiquity of these places, and in part,
no doubt, as the result of a political development lying behind
GUDEA'S PANTHEON. Ill
the period under consideration. The prominence given by
Lugal-zaggisi to Nisaba is rather surprising. He calls himself
and also his father, ' hero ' of Nisaba. If, however, it be borne
in mind that of the goddesses at least two, Umu and Nin-akha-
kuddu, are of a local character, the conclusion appears justified
that Nisaba was a goddess associated more particularly with
the district in which Uruk lay. The goddess Ninni (written
simply as ' the goddess ') is no doubt identical with the great
Nana of Uruk, and Nin-khar-sag is introduced as the consort
of En-lil.
As a result of this comparison, we may note the tendency
towards a general recognition of certain great gods, which is
more fully developed in the period of Hammurabi. At the
same time, the loyalty of the rulers to the gods, peculiar to their
own district, is manifested by the prominent place assigned in
the several cases to gods who otherwise play an insignificant
role, and who eventually are absorbed by others; and lastly, as
between Lugal-zaggisi and Gudea, the observation may be
made of the disposition to emphasize local gods, less for their
own sake, than because of the eclat furnished by the enumeration
of a large pantheon, which shall be coequal in extent and
dignity to the district claimed by the rulers and to the rank
assumed by them.
CHAPTER VII.
SUMMARY.
WE have thus passed in review the old Babylonian pantheon,
so far as the discovered texts have revealed their names
and epithets. The list does not claim to be exhaustive.
That future texts will add to its length, by revealing the
existence at this early period of many known to us at
present only from later texts or from the religious literature,1
is more than likely. The nature of the old Babylonian religion
entails, as a necessary consequence, an array of gods that
might be termed endless. Local cults would ever tend to
increase with the rise of new towns, and while the deities thus
worshipped would not rise to any or much importance, still
their names would become known in larger circles, and a ruler
might, for the sake of increasing his own lustre, make mention
of one or more of them, honoring them at the same time by
an epithet which might or might not accurately define their
character. As long as the various districts of Babylonia were
not formally united under one head, various local cults might
rise to equally large proportions, while the gods worshipped
as the special patrons of the great centers, as Lagash, Ur,
Uruk, Nippur, and the like, would retain their prominence,
even though the political status of the cities sacred to them
1 Quite recently there have been found at Telloh some thirty thousand clay tablets,
chiefly lists of sacrifices, temple inventories, and legal documents. These tablets
will probably furnish additional names of deities, and perhaps throw further light on
those known. Further excavations at Nippur will likewise add to the material.
But after all, for our main purpose in this chapter, which is the illustration of
the chief traits of the Babylonian pantheon in early days, these expected additions
to the pantheon will not be of paramount significance.
SUMMARY. 113
suffered a decline. The ruler of the district that claimed a
supremacy over one that formerly occupied an independent
position, would hasten to emphasize this control by proudly
claiming the patron deity as part of his pantheon. The popu-
larity of Sin at Ur suffered no diminution because the supremacy
of Ur yielded to that of Uruk. On the contrary, the god gained
new friends who strove to rival the old ones in manifestations
of reverence ; and when, as happened in several instances, the
patron deities were personifications of natural phenomena, whose
worship through various circumstances became associate'd with
particular localities, there was an additional reason for the
survival, and, indeed, growing importance of such local cults,
quite independent of the political fortunes that befell the cities
in which the gods were supposed to dwell.
As a consequence, there are a considerable number of deities
who are met with both at the beginning and at the end of the
first period of Babylonian history — a period, be it remembered,
that, so far as known, already covers a distance of 2,000
years. These are of two classes, (a) deities of purely local
origin, surviving through the historical significance of the
places where they were worshipped, and (b) deities, at once
local in so far as they are associated with a fixed spot, but at
the same time having a far more general character by virtue of
being personifications of the powers of nature. The jurisdic-
tion of both classes of deities might, through political vicissi-
tudes, be extended over a larger district than the one to which
they were originally confined, and in so far their local character
would tend to be obscured. It would depend, however, upon
other factors, besides the merely political ones, whether these
cults would take a sufficiently deep hold upon the people to
lead to the evolution of deities, entirely dissociated from fixed
seats, who might be worshipped anywhere, and whose attri-
butes would tend to become more and more abstract in charac-
ter. Such a process, however, could not be completed by the
114 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
silent working of what, for want of a better name, we call
the genius of the people. It requires the assistance, conscious
and in a measure pedantic, of the thinkers and spiritual guides
of a people. In other words, the advance in religious concep-
tions from the point at which we find them when the union of
the Babylonian states takes place, is conditioned upon the
infusion of the theological spirit into the mass of beliefs that
constituted the ancient heritage of the people.
On the other hand, various circumstances have already been
suggested that cooperated, already prior to the days of Ham-
murabi, in weeding out the superfluity of deities, at least so
far as recognition of them in the official inscriptions of the
rulers were concerned. Deities, attached to places of small
and ever-diminishing importance would, after being at first
adopted into the pantheon by some ruler desirous of emphasiz-
ing his control over the town in question, end in being entirely
absorbed by some more powerful god, whose attributes were
similar to those of his minor companion. Especially would
this be the case with deities conceived as granting assistance
in warfare. The glory of the smaller warrior gods would fade
through the success achieved by a Nin-girsu. The names and
epithets would be transferred to the more powerful god, and,
beyond an occasional mention, the weaker would entirely pass
out of consideration. Again, the worship of the moon or of
the sun, or of certain aspects of the sun, — the morning sun,
the noonday sun, and the like, — at localities of minor impor-
tance, would yield to the growing popularity of similar worship
in important centers. As a consequence, names that formerly
designated distinct deities or different phases of one and the
same deity, would, by being transferred to a single one, come
to be mere epithets of this one. The various names would be
used interchangeably, without much regard to their original force.
All the essential elements of the Babylonian religion are
already to be found in the conditions prevailing during the
SUMMARY. 115
period that we have been considering. Some new deities are
met with in the periods that followed, but there is no reason to
believe that any profound changes in the manner of worship,
or in the conceptions regarding the gods, were introduced.
The relations, however, which the gods bear to one another
are considerably modified, their attributes become more sharply
denned, the duties and privileges pertaining to each are regu-
lated. Hand in hand with this systematization, the organization
of the cult becomes more perfect, the ritual enters upon further
phases of development, speculations regarding the unknown have
their outcome in the establishment of dogmas. Finally the past,
with its traditions and legends, is viewed under the aspect of
later religious thought. The products of popular fancy are
reshaped, given a literary turn that was originally foreign to
them, and so combined and imbued with a meaning as to re-
flect the thoughts and aspirations of a comparatively advanced
age. What may be called the flowering of the theological
epoch in the history of the Babylonian religion, viewed as a
unit, is so directly dependent upon the political union of the
Babylonian states, brought about by Hammurabi (c. 2300 B.C.),
that it may be said to date from this event.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE PANTHEON IN THE DAYS OF HAMMURABI.
MARDUK.
THE immediate result of Hammurabi's master-stroke in bring-
ing the various states of the Euphrates Valley under a single
control, was the supremacy secured for his capital, of the city
of Babylon over all other Babylonian cities, and with this
supremacy, the superior position henceforth assumed by the
patron deity of the capital, Marduk.1 It is needless for our
purposes to enter upon the question as to the age of the city
of Babylon,2 nor as to its political fortunes prior to the rise of
the dynasty of which Hammurabi was the sixth member. That
its beginnings were modest, and that its importance, if not its
origin, was of recent date in comparison with such places as
Eridu, Nippur, Lagash, Ur, and the like, is proved by the absence
of the god Marduk in any of the inscriptions that we have
been considering up to this point. The first mention of the
god occurs in the inscriptions of Hammurabi, where he appears
distinctly as the god of the city of Babylon. No doubt the
immediate predecessors of Hammurabi regarded Marduk in
1 The name is also written Ma-ru-duk, which points to its having been regarded
(for which there is other evidence) as a compound of maru, ' son,' and an element,
duk(u), which in religious and other texts designates the ' glorious chamber ' in which
the god determines the fate of humanity. Such an ' etymology ' is, however, merely
a play upon the name, similar to the plays upon proper names found in the Old
Testament. The real etymology is unknown. The form Marduk is Semitic, and
points to an underlying stem, rdk. Marduk appears under a variety of names which
will be taken up at their proper place. See Schrader's Assyrisch-Babyl. Keilschriftcn,
p. 129 ; and the same author's Cuneiform Inscrip. and the O. T. (p. 422) for other
etymologies.
2 Hommel's view that Gish-galla, in Gudea's inscriptions, is Babylon lacks convin-
cing evidence, but the city may be as old as Gudea's days for all that.
THE PANTHEON IN THE DAYS OF HAMMURABI. \\~
the same light as the great conqueror, so that we are justified
in applying the data, furnished by the inscriptions of Hammu-
rabi to such of his predecessors, of whom records are still
lacking. It is to Marduk, that Hammurabi ascribes his suc-
cess. The king regards himself as the beloved of Marduk.
The god rejoices his heart and gives him power and plenty.
Even when paying his homage at the shrines of other deities,
he does not forget to couple the name of Marduk with that of
the deity whose protection he invokes. So at Sippar, sacred to
Shamash, and where the king deposits a cylinder recording the
improvements that he instigated in the city, he associates the
sun-god with Marduk, whereas in contradistinction to the rulers
of the old Babylonian cities or states, when addressing Marduk,
he does not find it necessary to make mention at the same
time of an entire pantheon. Marduk's protection suffices for
all purposes. This, of course, does not exclude the worship of
other gods. A reference has already been made to the king's
care for the city of Shamash. In this respect, he was but
following the example of his predecessors, who, while regarding
Babylon as their capital, were zealous in doing honor to ancient
centers of worship. So one of these predecessors, Zabu,
restores the temple of Shamash at Sippar, and that of Anunit
at Agade. Hammurabi, besides his work at Sippar, builds
a temple to Ninni at Hallabi.1 Babylon, however, is the
beloved city of Marduk, and upon its beautification and
improvement Hammurabi expends his chief energy. Such are
the endearing terms in which he speaks of his god, as to give
one the impression that, when thinking of Marduk, the king
for the moment loses sight of the existence of other gods.
The most striking tribute, however, that is paid to Marduk in
the period of Hammurabi is his gradual assumption of the
role played by the old En-lil or Bel of Nippur, once the
head of the Babylonian pantheon. This identification is
1 Near Sippar,
118 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
already foreshadowed in the title belie rabu, i.e., 'great lord,'
which Hammurabi is fond of bestowing upon Marduk. It is
more clearly indicated in an inscription of his son, Samsu-iluna,
who represents Bel, ' the king of heaven and earth,' as trans-
ferring to Marduk, the 'first-born son of Ea,' rulership over
' the four regions,' — a phrase that at this time had already
assumed a much wider meaning than its original portent. In
the religious literature of this age, which reflects the same
tendency, Bel expressly transfers his title f lord of the lands ' *
to Marduk, while Ea likewise pays homage to his son, declaring
that the latter's ' name ' shall also be Ea. The transference of
the name, according to Babylonian notions, is equivalent to a
transference of power. As a consequence, Bel and Marduk
are blended into one personage, Marduk becoming known as
Bel-Marduk, and finally, the first part of the compound sinking
to the level of a mere adjective, the god is addressed as ' lord
Marduk,' or ' Marduk, the lord.' The old Bel is entirely for-
gotten, or survives at best in conventional association with
Anu and Ea, as a member of the ancient triad.
It has been satisfactorily shown 2 that Marduk was originally
a solar deity. His association with Babylon, therefore, must
be viewed in the same light as the association of Sin, the
moon-god, with the city of Ur, and the association of Shamash,
the sun-god, with Larsa and Sippar. Just as in the latter
places, other cults besides that of the patron deity prevailed,
so in Babylon it was merely the prominence which, for some
reason, the worship of the sun-god acquired, that led to the
closer identification of this particular deity with the city, until
he became viewed as the god par excellence of the city, and the
city itself as his favorite residence. As long as Larsa and
Sippar retained a prominence overshadowing that of Babylon,
1 Bel matdti.
2 Sayce, Religion of the Ancient Babylonians, pp. 98 seq. ; Jensen, Kosmologie der
Babylonier, p. 88,
THE PANTHEON IN THE DAYS OF HAMMURABI. 119
the sun cult at the latter place could attract but little attention.
Only as Babylon began to rival, and finally to supersede, other
centers of sun-worship, could Marduk be brought into the
front rank of prevailing cults: It may appear strange, in view
of this original character of Marduk, that neither in the inscrip-
tions of Hammurabi, nor in those of his successors, is there
any direct reference to his qualities as a solar deity. However,
in the ideographs composing his name, which are to be inter-
preted as ' child of the day,' J and in the zodiacal system, as
perfected by the Babylonian scholars, there lurk traces of the
god's solar origin. Beyond this, perhaps, in certain set phrases,
surviving in prayers addressed to him. The explanation for
this absence of solar traits is to be sought in the peculiar
political conditions that resulted in bringing Marduk into such
prominence. Hammurabi was preeminently a conquering king.
He waged war on all sides, and carried on his campaigns for
many years. When he finally succeeded in bringing both
North and South Babylonia under his sway, it still required
constant watching to keep his empire together. His patron
god, therefore, the protector of the city, whose jurisdiction was
thus spread over a larger extent of territory than that of any
other deity, must have appeared to Hammurabi and his follow-
ers, as well as to those vanquished by him, essentially as a
warrior. It is he who hands over to kings the land and its
inhabitants. The fact that he was a solar deity would become
obscured by the side of the more potent fact that, as god of the
city of Babylon, his sway was supreme. He therefore became
Marduk, the 'great lord.' The epithets bestowed upon him
naturally emphasized the manner in which he manifested him-
self, and these epithets, therefore, referred to his power, to his
supremacy over other gods, to his favor shown to his worship-
1 So Delitzsch, Bcitr'dge znr Assyriolagie, ii. 623. The first part of the name is
also used to designate the ' young bullock,' and it is possible, therefore, that the god
was pictured in this way, as both Anu and Sin are occasionally called ' bulls.'
120 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
pers by granting them unprecedented glory ; and since the
political supremacy remained undisputed for many centuries,
no opportunity was afforded for ever reverting to the attributes
of the god as a solar deity. He remained — if one may so
express it — a political deity. The political significance of
Babylon permitted only one phase of his nature to be brought
forward.
In the religious texts, however, preserving as they do the
more primitive conceptions by the side of the most advanced
ones, some traces of other attributes besides prowess in war
are found. By virtue of his character as a solar deity, Marduk,
like the orb personified through him, is essentially a life-giving
god. Whereas Shamash is viewed as the 'judge of mankind,'
Marduk becomes the god who restores the dead to life, though
he shares this power with Shamash, Gula, Nebo, and Nergal.
But after all, even in the religious texts, his more prominent
role is that of a ruler, — a magnified king. He protects the
weak, releases the imprisoned, and makes great the small.
He controls by his powerful hand the mountains and rivers and
fountains. He is the counsellor who guides the decrees, even
of the great gods, Anu and Bel. On his head rests a crown
with high horns, as the symbol of rulership. As the supreme
ruler, life and death are in his hands. Blessings flow from
him ; and of awe-inspiring appearance, his wrath inflicts severe
punishment on the evil-doer.
It is a noteworthy circumstance, and characteristic of the
phase of the Babylonian religion which we are considering,
that the extension of Marduk's political sway did not lead to
the establishment of Marduk cults outside of Babylon. One
reason for this was that, in accordance with the political con-
ceptions, dwelt upon in the introductory chapter, the empire of
Babylonia was regarded simply as an extension of the city of
Babylon. Babylonia, therefore, being identified in theory with
the city of Babylon, there was no need of emphasizing the
THE PANTHEON IN THE DAYS OF HAMMURABI. 121
power of Marduk by establishing his cult elsewhere. Within the
limits of Babylon, however, there might be more than one shrine
to Marduk, and accordingly, when the city was extended so as
to include the place known as Borsippa, a temple to Marduk was
also erected there. The temple on the east side of the Euphrates,
known as E-Sagila, 'the lofty house,' was the older, and dates
probably from the beginnings of Babylon itself ; that in Bor-
sippa, known as E-Zida, ' the true house,' seems to have been
founded by Hammurabi.1 While it was not in accord with the
dignity attaching to Marduk that his cult should be established
outside of the precincts of the city of Babylon, it would only
add to his glory to have the worship of other deities grouped
around his own sanctuary. Such a course would emphasize the
central position of Marduk among the gods, and accordingly,
we find that the chief gods of Babylonia are represented by
shrines within the sacred precincts of his great temples at
Babylon and Borsippa. First among these shrines is that of
Marduk's consort,
SARPANITUM.
Neither Hammurabi nor his immediate successor make men-
tion of Sarpanitum, and at no time does she appear independ-
ently of Marduk. The glory of Marduk did not permit of
any riv.al, and so his consort becomes merely his shadow, —
less significant than most of the consorts of the male deities.
Her name, signifying the ' silvery bright one,' evidently stands
in some connection with the solar character of her consort.
Popular etymology, by a play upon the name, made of Sarpanitum
(as though Zer-banit) the ' offspring-producing ' goddess. She
had her shrine within the precincts of the great temple E-Sagila,
but we are not told of any special honors being paid her, nor do
we find her invoked to any extent in incantations or in votive
inscriptions. Agumkakrimi, or Agum (as he is also called),
1 Louvre Inscription II, col. ii. 11. 12-17.
122 BABYLONIAAT-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
who rules about five centuries after Hammurabi, speaks of
having recovered the image of Sarpanitum, and that of Marduk,
out of the hands of a mountainous people living to the north-
west of Babylonia, in the district between the Bay of Iskenderun
and the Euphrates. The capture of the statues of the patron
gods points to a great humiliation which Babylon must have
encountered. Upon receiving a favorable omen from the sun-
god, Agum undertakes the task of bringing Marduk and Sar-
panitum back to their seats. Their temples, too, at Babylon
appear to have suffered damage during the invasion of the city,
and accordingly the statues are placed in the temple of Shamash
pending the restoration of E-Sagila. Agum dwells at length
upon the handsome garments and head-dress, studded with
precious stones, that he prepared for the god and his consort.
In all this description, one feels that it is Marduk for whom
the honors are intended, and that Sarpanitum is of less than
secondary importance, — shining merely by the reflected glory
of her great liege, whose presence in Babylon was essential to
a restoration of Babylon's position.
There are reasons for believing, however, that Sarpanitum
once enjoyed considerable importance of her own, that prior to
the rise of Marduk to his supreme position, a goddess was
worshipped in Babylon, one of whose special functions it was
to protect the progeny while still in the mother's womb. A late
king of Babylon, the great Nebuchadnezzar, appeals to this attri-
bute of the goddess. To her was also attributed the possession
of knowledge concealed from men. Exactly to what class of
deities she belonged, we are no longer able to say, but it is
certain that at some time, probably about the time of Hammurabi,
an amalgamation took place between her and another goddess
known as Erua,1 — a name that etymologically suggests the idea
1 There is also a goddess Eria worshipped in Elam, who may be identical with
Erua. The scribes in the days of Nebuchadnezzar (c. 1140 B.C.), at least, appear to
have thought so, for they associate her with Bel, just as Sarpanitum is associated
with Bel-Marduk. (See the Inscription VR. 57, col. ii. 11. n, 12.)
THE PANTHEON IN THE DAYS OF HAMMURABI. 123
of 'begetting.'1 She is represented as dwelling in the temple
of E-Zida at Borsippa, and was originally the consort of Nabu,
the chief god of this place.2 A late ruler of Babylon -
Shamash-shumukin — calls her the queen of the gods, and
declares himself to have been nominated by her to lord it over
men.
A factor in this amalgamation of Erua and Sarpanitum was
the close association brought about in Babylon between Marduk
and a god whose seat was originally at the Persian Gulf — Ea.
The cult of this god, as we shall see, survived in Babylonia
through all political vicissitudes, and so did that of some other
minor water-deities that belong to this region. Among these
was Erua, whose worship centered in one of the islands in or
near the gulf. Wisdom and the life-giving principle were two
ideas associated in the Babylonian mind with water. As
inferior in power to Ea, Erua appears to have been regarded
as the daughter of Ea, and such was the sway exercised by Ea
over men's minds, that even the Babylonian schoolmen did not
venture to place Marduk over Ea, but pictured him as Ea's
son. Erua, however, was not prominent enough to become
Marduk's mother, and so she was regarded as his consort. In
this capacity she was associated with Sarpanitum, and the two
were merged into one personality. It rarely happens that all
the links in such a process are preserved, but in this case, the
epithets borne by.Sarpanitum-Erua, such as 'lady of the deep,'
' mistress of the place where the fish dwell,' ' voice of the deep,'
point the way towards the solution of the problem involved in
the amalgamation of Erua and Sarpanitum.3
1 Whether, however, this was the real meaning of the name is doubtful, for the
name of the goddess is also written Aru and Arua, which points to a different verbal
stem.
2 See below under Tashmitum.
3 There are indications also of an arrested amalgamation of Erua-Sarpanitum with
Tashmitum, the wife of Nabu. (See Sayce, Hibbcrt Lectures, p. 112.)
124 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
NABU.
The gcd Nabu (or Nebo) enjoys a great popularity in the
Babylonian cult, but he owes his prestige to the accident that,
as god of Borsippa, he was associated with Marduk. Indeed,
his case is a clear instance of the manner in which Marduk
overshadows all his fellows. Only as they are brought into
some manner of relationship with him do they secure a position
in the pantheon during this second period of Babylonian his-
tory. Since Nabu's position in the pantheon, once established,
incurs but little change, it will be proper, in treating of him,
to include the testimony furnished by the historical records of
the Assyrian kings. The most prominent attribute of Nabu,
at least in the later phases of the Babylonian religion, is that
of wisdom. He is the wise, the all-knowing. He embodies in
his person all the wisdom of the gods. To him the Assyrian
kings are particularly fond of ascribing, not merely the under-
standing that they possess, but the thought of preserving the
wisdom of the past for future ages ; and in doing this the
Assyrians were but guided by examples furnished by the south.
Wisdom being associated, in the minds of the Babylonians, with
the watery deep, one is tempted to seek an aqueous origin for
Nabu. Such a supposition, although it cannot be positively
established, has much in its favor. It is not necessary, in order
to maintain this proposition, to remove Nabu from Borsippa.
The alluvial deposits made by the Euphrates yearly have
already demonstrated that Babylon lay much nearer at one
time to the Persian Gulf than it does at present. The original
seat of Ea, whose worship continued through all times to enjoy
great popularity at Babylon, was at Eridu, which, we know,
once lay on the Persian Gulf, but does so no longer. The
similarity of the epithets bestowed in various texts upon Ea
and Nabu point most decidedly to a similar starting-point for
both; and since in a syllabary1 we find the god actually identi-
1 Rawlinson, ii. 60, 30.
THE PANTHEON IN THE DA YS OF HAMMURABI. 125
fied with a deity of Dilmun, — probably one of the islands near
Bahrein, — there are grounds for assuming that a tradition
survived among the schoolmen, which brought Nabu into some
connection with the Persian Gulf. Sayce 1 has already sug-
gested that Borsippa may have originally stood on an inlet of
the Persian Gulf. Nabu is inferior to Ea, and were it not for
the priority of Marduk, he would have become in Babylonian
theology, the son of Ea. Since this distinction 2 is given to
Marduk, no direct indication of an original relationship to Ea
has survived.
But besides being the god of wisdom and intelligence, Nabu
is a patron of agriculture, who causes the grain to sprout forth.
In religious and historical texts, he is lauded as the deity who
opens up the subterranean sources in order to irrigate the
fields. He heaps up the grain in the storehouses, and on the
other hand, the withdrawal of his favor is followed by famine
and distress. Jensen3 would conclude from this that he was
originally (like Marduk, therefore) a solar deity. This, how-
ever, is hardly justified, since it is just as reasonable to deduce
his role as the producer of fertility from his powers as lord of
some body of water. However this may be, in the case of
Nabu, there are no grounds for supposing that he represents
the combination of two originally distinct deities. A later —
chiefly theoretical — amalgamation of Nabu with a god Nusku
will be discussed in a subsequent chapter.4 Hammurabi and his
immediate successors, it is noteworthy, do not make mention of
Nabu. A sufficient number of inscriptions of this period exists
to make it probable that this omission is not accidental. This
dynasty was chiefly concerned in firmly establishing the position
of Marduk. Other deities could, indeed, be tolerated at his side,
provided they were subservient to him ; but Nabu, the god of a
place so near Babylon, might prove a dangerous rival because
1 Hibbert Lectures, p. 117. 3 Kosmologie, p. 239.
2 See further on, sub Ea. 4 Sub Nusku, chapter xiii.
126 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
of this proximity. The city on the west bank of the Euphrates
was probably as old as that on the east, if not, indeed, older.
It did not seem consistent with this devotion to Marduk that
Hammurabi and his successors should also recognize Nabu.
Policy dictated that Nabu should be ignored, that the attempt
must be made to replace his worship, even in Borsippa, by that
of Marduk. Viewed in this light, Hammurabi's establishment
of the Marduk cult in Borsippa assumes a peculiar significance.
It meant that Borsippa was to be incorporated as part of Baby-
lon, and that Marduk was henceforth to take the place occupied
by Nabu. In order to emphasize this, Hammurabi actually
transfers the name of Nabu's temple in Borsippa, E-Zida, to the
one erected by him at that place to Marduk. Did he perhaps
entirely suppress the worship of Nabu at Borsippa ? It would
almost appear so from Agum's utter omission of Nabu. Only
the statues of Marduk and Sarpanitum seem to have been
robbed by the Hani. Not a word is said as to Nabu. Either
there was no statue at the time at Borsippa, or the cult was of
such insignificance that the capture of the god was not consid-
ered of sufficient moment to occupy the thoughts of the enemy,
as little as it did that of the rulers of Babylon at the time. In
the inscription in which Hammurabi recounts the building of
E-Zida in Borsippa, there are certain expressions which go to
substantiate the proposition that Nabu is intentionally ignored.1
He calls Marduk the lord of E-Sagila and of E-Zida ; he speaks
of Borsippa as the beloved city of Marduk, just as though it
were Babylon. Taking unto himself the functions of Nabu,
he even appears to play upon the name, which signifies * pro-
1 Tiele, Geschichte d. Religion i. AltertJmm, i. 171 and 188, is of the opinion that
Nabu is a late deity whose worship dates from a period considerably subsequent to
Hammurabi. This conclusion from the non-occurrence of the god in early inscriptions
is not justified. There is no reason why Nabu should have been added as a deity
in later times, and in general we must be on our guard against assuming new deities
subsequent to Hammurabi. It is much more plausible to assume the restored
popularity of very old ones.
THE PANTHEON IN THE DAYS OF HAMMURABI, 127
claimer,' and styles himself the nabiu Anu, ' the proclaimer of
Anu.' However this may be, the attempt to suppress Nabu
did not succeed, — a proof that in early times he had gained
popular favor. He had to be readmitted into the Babylonian
pantheon, though in a subordinate position to Marduk. He
took his place in the theological system as the son of Marduk,
and on the great festival — the New Year's day — celebrated
in honor of the great god of Babylon, the son shared some of
the honors accorded to the father. In time, his sanctuary at
Borsippa was again recognized. The former rivalry gave way
to a cordial entente. Nabu was even granted a chapel in
E-Sagila at Babylon, to which likewise the name of E-Zida was
given. Every New Year's day the son paid a visit to his
father, on which occasion the statue of Nabu was carried in
solemn procession from Borsippa across the river, and along
the main street of Babylon leading to the temple of Marduk ;
and in return the father deity accompanied his son part way on
the trip back to E-Zida. In this way, due homage was accorded
to Marduk, and at the same time the close and cordial bonds
of union between Babylon and Borsippa found satisfactory
illustration. E-Sagila and E-Zida become, and remain through-
out the duration of the Babylonian religion, the central sanctua-
ries of the land around which the most precious recollections
cluster, as dear to the Assyrians as to the Babylonians. The
kings of the northern empire vie with their southern cousins in
beautifying and enlarging the structures sacred to Marduk and
Nabu.
In view of the explanation offered for the silence maintained
by Hammurabi and his successors regarding Nabu, we are
justified in including Nabu in the Babylonian pantheon of
those days. In later times, among the Assyrians, the Nabu
cult, as already intimated, grows in popularity. The northern
monarchs, in fact, seem to give Nabu the preference over
Marduk. They do not tire of proclaiming him as the source
128 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
of wisdom. The staff is his symbol, which is interpreted in a
double sense, as the writer's stylus and as the ruler's sceptre.
He becomes, also, the bestower of royal power upon his favorites.
Without his aid, order cannot be maintained in the land. Diso-
bedience to him is punished by the introduction of foreign rule.
Political policy may have had a share in this preference shown
for the minor god of Babylon. The Assyrian kings were
always anxious to do homage to the gods of Babylon, in order
to indicate their control over the southern districts. They
were particularly proud of their title ' governor of Bel.' l On
the other hand, they were careful not to give offence to the
chief of the Assyrian pantheon, — the god Ashur, — by paying
too much honor to Marduk, who was in a measure Ashur's
rival. In consequence, as Hammurabi and his successors
endeavored to ignore Nabu, the Assyrian rulers now turned
the tables by manifesting a preference for Nabu ; and obliged
as they were to acknowledge that the intellectual impulses came
from the south, they could accept a southern god of wisdom
without encroaching upon the province of Ashur, whose claims
to homage lay in the prowess he showed in war. Marduk was
too much like Ashur to find a place at his side. Nabu was a
totally different deity, and in worshipping him who was the son
of Marduk, the Assyrian kings felt that they were paying due
regard to the feelings of their Babylonian subjects. The cult
of Nabu thus became widely extended in Assyria. Statues of
the god were erected and deposited in shrines built for the
purpose, although the fact was not lost sight of that the real
dwelling-place of the god was in Borsippa. At the end of the
ninth century B.C. this cult seems to have reached its height.
We learn of a temple at Calah, and of no less than eight
statues of the god being erected in the days of Ramman-nirari
III., and the terms in which the god is addressed might lead
one to believe that an attempt was made to concentrate the
1 Bel being Marduk, the title was equivalent to that of ' governor of Babylonia.'
THE PANTHEON IN THE DA YS OF HAMMURABI. 129
cult in Assyria on him.1 This, however, was an impossibility.
As long as Assyria continued to play the role of the subduer
of nations, Ashur — the god of war par excellence — neces-
sarily retained his position at the head of the Assyrian pan-
theon. The popularity of Nabu, which continued to the end
of the Assyrian empire, and gained a fresh impetus in the days
of Ashurbanabal, who, as a patron of literature, invokes Nabu
on thousands of the tablets of his library as 'the opener of
ears to understanding,' reacted on his position in the Baby-
lonian cult. In the new Babylonian empire, which continued
to so large a degree the traditions of Assyria, it is no accident
that three of the kings — Nabupolassar, Nebuchadnezzar, and
Nabonnedos — bear names containing the deity as one of the
elements. While paying superior devotion to Marduk, who
once more became the real and not merely the nominal head
of the pantheon, they must have held Nabu in no small esteem ;
and indeed the last-named king was suspected of trying actu-
ally to divert the homage of the people away from Marduk to
other gods, though he did not, as a matter of course, go so far
as to endeavor to usurp for the son, the position held by the
father. It is probably due to Assyrian influence that even in
Babylonia, from the eighth century on, Nabu is occasionally
mentioned before Marduk. So Marduk-baladan II. (721-710)
calls himself the " worshipper of Nabu and Marduk," and
similarly others. In official letters likewise, and in astronomical
reports, Nabu is given precedence to Marduk, but this may be
due to Nabu's functions, as the god of writing and the patron
of science.
The Neo-Babylonian kings are not sparing in the epithets
they bestow on Nabu, though they emphasize more his qualities
as holder of the ' sceptre ' than as lord of the * stylus.' So
Nebuchadnezzar declares that it is he 'who gives the sceptre of
sovereignty to kings to rule over all lands.' In this capacity
1 So, Tiele, GcschicJite d. Religion i. Alterthum, i. 191.
130 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
he is ' the upholder of the world,' ' the general overseer,' and
his temple is called ' the house of the sceptre of the world.'
His name signifies simply the * proclaimer,' or herald, but
we are left in doubt as to what he proclaims, — whether wisdom
or sovereignty. Sometimes he appears as the 'herald' of the
gods. In this role he receives the name of Papsukal (i.e.,
supreme or sacred messenger), and it may be that this function
was a very old one. But, again, as god of fertility he could
also be appropriately termed the ' proclaimer.' The question
must, accordingly, be left open as to the precise force of the
attribute contained in his name. Finally, an interesting feature
connected with Nabu, that may be mentioned here, is that in
the name borne by a famous mountain in Moab, Nebo, where
Moses — himself a ' proclaimer ' A — died, there survives a testi-
mony that the worship of this popular deity extended beyond
the Euphrates and the Tigris, to Semites living considerably to
the west. To Nabu, as to Marduk, a consort was given. Her
name was
TASHMITUM.
The name Tashmitum appears for the first time in the days
of Hammurabi. Attention has already been called to the king's
ignoring of the god of Borsippa. While his attempt to suppress
the cult of Nabu was not successful, he did succeed in causing
the old consort of Nabu to disappear. This consort appears
to have been no other than Erua. It will be recalled that up
to very late times the tradition survived that her dwelling-place
was Borsippa.2 This is never said of Sarpanitum. Despite,
therefore, the amalgamation of Sarpanitum and Erua, the
association of the latter with Nabu's dwelling-place remains
1 The Hebrew word for prophet, nal>i, is of the same stem as the Assyrian Nabu,
and the popular tradition in placing the last scene in the life of Moses on Mt. Nebo
is apparently influenced by the fact that Moses was a nabi.
2 See above, p. 123.
THE PANTHEON IN THE DAYS OF HAMMURABI. 131
impressed upon the memory of the Babylonian scholars, at
least. Nabu's consort having thus been transferred to Marduk,
a new mate had to be found for the former, when once his
rivalry was no longer to be dreaded, and his cult again rose to
prominence. ' Tashmitum ' is an abstract noun in Assyrian,
signifying ' revelation.' As such, it is bestowed in historical texts
upon Nabu himself, who is called ilu tashmeti, 'god of revela-
tion.' Nabu is, above all, a * revealing ' god, — revealing
knowledge, the art of writing, and the method of ruling. The
appellation is therefore a most appropriate one, and there
seems little reason to question that Tashmitum was originally
nothing but one of the terms by which Nabu was designated,
just as he was called Papsukal in his role as ' messenger' of the
gods, — the messenger of his father Marduk and of his grand-
father Ea, in particular. But Tashmitum, being feminine in
gender, as an abstract noun, seemed appropriate as the desig-
nation of a goddess. It would appear, then, that * Revelation,'
from being so constantly associated with Nabu, was personified,
dissociated from him, as it were, through the conception of a
distinct goddess bearing the name of ' Tashmitum.' This
process of thought, in giving rise to a new goddess, may have
been, in part, a popular one. The translation of a metaphor
mto reality is a phenomenon that may be observed in almost all
religions of antiquity. But the process, whatever its course in
detail may have been, was not uninfluenced by the theological
dogma whereby a god was supposed to have a ' reflection ' who
was pictured as his consort. Through this conception, as we
have already seen, many a goddess once ruling in her own
right, and enjoying an independent existence, degenerated into
a mere shadow of some male deity, though, on the other hand,
it must be borne in mind that these female deities would have
disappeared altogether but for the opportunity thus afforded
them of becoming ' attachees ' to some male deity. This theory
of the £7^m-artificial character and origin of Tashmit finds
132 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
support in the manner in which the mention of her name is
entwined with that of Nabu. Sarpanitum, bound up as the
goddess is with Marduk, has at least a shrine of her own, and
occasionally she is spoken of in the texts without her husband
Marduk.1 The mention of Tashmitum, however, invariably fol-
lows that of Nabu. It is always * Nabu and Tashmitum,' and it
is never Tashmitum without Nabu. While the creation of Tash-
mitum may be a product of Babylonian religious thought, it is
in Assyrian texts that her name is chiefly found. The great
Ashurbanabal, in the conventional subscript attached to his
tablet, is particularly fond of coupling Tashmitum with Nabu,
as the two deities who opened his ears to understanding and
prompted him to gather in his palace the literary treasures
produced by the culture that flourished in the south. Tashinit
has no shrine or temple, so far as known, either in Borsippa or
in any of the places whither the Nabu cult spread. She has
no attributes other than those that belong to Nabu, and, what
is very remarkable, the later Babylonian kings, such as Nebu-
chadnezzar II., when they deem it proper to attach a consort to
Nabu call her Nana,2 i.e., simply the lady, and not Tashmitum,
a proof, how little hold the name had taken upon the Babylonian
populace. If to this it be added, that in by far the greater
number of instances, no reference whatsoever to a consort is
made when Nabu is spoken of, an additional reason is found
for the unreal, the shadowy character of this goddess.
EA.
In treating of the position occupied by Ea in the oldest
period of Babylonian history (see above, pp. 61-64), it has
already been mentioned that he grows to much larger propor-
tions under the influence of a more fully developed theological
system. Indeed, there is no god who shows such profound
1 So in the cylinder of Shamash-shum-ukin (Lehmann's publication, pis. viii. sey.).
2 E.g., in the so-called Grotefend Cylinder, col. ii. 34.
THE PANTHEON IN THE DAYS OF HAMMURABI. U3
traces of having been submitted to a theological treatment,
and indirectly, therefore, furnishes so distinct a proof of the
existence of theological schools in the ancient centers of Baby-
lonian culture, as Ea. The question may with propriety be
here discussed, to what period we are to attribute the comple-
tion of the process, which, to summarize his position, made Ea
the special god of humanity, the father of Marduk, the third in
a great triad, of which the other two members were Anu, the
god of heaven, and Bel, the god of earth. Already, in the
days preceding the union of the Babylonian states under one
head, we have . had occasion to see traces of an attempt to
systematize the relations existing between the gods. A high
degree of culture, such as the existence of a perfected form of
writing, an advanced form of architecture, and commercial
enterprise reflect, cannot be dissociated from a high degree of
activity in the domain of philosophic or religious thought.
Accordingly, we are in no danger of attributing too great an
antiquity to the beginnings of theological speculation in Baby-
lonia. Be it remembered that from the earliest to the latest
days, the priests were the scribes and that in their capacity as
writers of the texts, they would be enjoying the advantages of
an intellectual impulse. But they were also the composers of
the texts, as well as the writers, and the prominence given to
the gods in texts of whatever description, would inevitably lead
their thoughts to speculations regarding the attributes of the
gods. The attempt would at an early period be made to find
some unifying principles in the tangled mass of gods. By the
time that Hammurabi appears on the scene, we have every
reason to believe that some of the ancient libraries of the
south, whither Ashurbanabal sent his scribes, were already well
stocked, and that a goodly portion of the Babylonian literature
known to us already existed. What these portions were, we will
have occasion to point out when we come to discuss the litera-
ture of Babylonia. On the other hand, this literature would
134 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
not only necessarily increase as long as any degree of intellec-
tual activity existed in the country, but this activity would also
manifest itself in transforming this literature, so as to adapt it
to the thoughts and aspirations of a later age. Especially
would this be the case in the purely religious divisions of
literature. The ancient traditions, legends, and myths, once
committed to writing, would serve as a point of departure for
further speculations. The existence of a text to which any
measure of value is attached, is bound to give rise to various
attempts at interpretation, and if this value be connected with
the religion of a people, the result is, invariably, that the ancient
words are invested with a meaning conformable to a later age.
Each generation among a people characterized by intellectual
activity has a signature of its own, and it will seek to give to
the religious thoughts of the time its own particular impress.
Since, however, the material upon which any age works is not
of its own making, but is furnished by a preceding one, it
follows that much of the intellectual activity of an age manifests
itself in a transformation of its literary or speculative heritage.
This process was constantly going on in Babylonia, and had
we more material — and older material — at our disposal, we
would be able to trace more clearly than we can at present, the
various stages that led to the system of theology, as embodied
in the best productions of the ancient Babylonian schoolmen.
The days of Hammurabi, as they were politically of great
importance, also appear to have ushered in a new era in the
religious life of the people. Stirring political events are always
apt to bring in their wake intellectual movements, and in a
country like Babylonia, where politics react so forcibly on relig-
ious conditions, the permanent establishment of the supremacy
of the city of Babylon would be fraught with important conse-
quences for the cult. The main change brought about by this
new epoch of Babylonian history was, as we have seen, the
superior position henceforth accorded in the pantheon to Mar-
THE PANTHEON IN THE DAYS OF HAMMURABI. 135
duk as the patron deity of Babylon ; but this change entailed
so many others, that it almost merits being termed a revolution.
In order to ensure Marduk's place, the relations of the other
deities to him had to be regulated, the legends and traditions
of the past reshaped, so as to be brought into consistent accord
with the new order of things, and the cult likewise to be, at
least in part, remodelled, so as to emphasize the supremacy of
Marduk. This ,work, which was an inevitable one, was pri-
marily of an intellectual order. We are justified, then, in
looking for traces of this activity in the remains that have
been recovered of ancient Babylonian literature. We know
from direct evidence that the commercial life of Babylonia had
already, in the period preceding Hammurabi, led to regulated
legal forms and practices for the purpose of carrying out
obligations and of settling commercial and legal difficulties.
The proof has been furnished by Dr. Meissner1 that sylla-
baries prepared for the better understanding of the formulas
and words employed in preparing the legal and commercial
tablets, date, in part, from the period which we may roughly
designate as that of Hammurabi, — covering, say, the three
centuries 2300 to 2000 B.C. With this evidence for the exist-
ence of pedagogues devoted to the training of novices in the art
of reading and writing, in order to fit them for their future tasks
as official scribes, we are safe in assuming that these same
schoolmen were no less active in other fields of literature. If,
in addition to this, we find that much of the religious literature,
in the shape that we have it, reflects the religious conditions
such as they must have shaped themselves in consequence of
the promotion of Marduk to the head of the pantheon, the
conclusion is forced upon us that such literary productions
date from this same epoch of Hammurabi. This influence of
the schoolmen while centering, as repeatedly pointed out,
around the position of Marduk, manifests itself in a pro-
1 II "icncr Zeitschrift fiir die Kunde d. Morgenlandes, iv. 301-307.
136 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
nounced fashion, also, in the changed position henceforth
accorded to the god Ea. It will be recalled that in the earliest
period of Babylonian history, Ea does not figure prominently.
At the same time we must beware of laying too much stress
upon the negative testimony of the historical texts. Besides
the still limited material of this character at our disposal, the
non-mention of a deity may be due to a variety of circum-
stances, that may properly be designated as accidental. The
gods to whom the kings of the ancient Babylonian states would
be apt to appeal would be, in the first instance, the local
deities, patrons of the city that happened to be the capital of
the state ; in the second instance, the gods of the vanquished
towns; and thirdly, some of the great deities worshipped at
the sacred centers of the Euphrates valley, and who consti-
tuted, as it were, the common heritage of the past. Ea, as the
god of the Persian gulf, the region which forms the starting-
point of Babylonian culture, and around which some of the
oldest and most precious recollections center, would come
within the radius of the third instance, since, in the period we
have in mind, Eridu no longer enjoyed any political importance.
We may be sure, then, despite the silence of the texts, that Ea
was always held in great esteem, and that even the absence of
temples in his honor, did not affect the reverence and awe that
he inspired. As for the epoch of Hammurabi, the historical
spirit that is never absent in a truly intellectual age would be
certain to restore Ea to his proper prestige, assuming that a
previous age had permitted him to fall into neglect. Next to
Marduk, there is no deity who is given such distinction in
Babylonia, after the union of the Babylonian states, as Ea. In
the religious literature, moreover, as reshaped by the school-
men of the time, his role is even more prominent than that of
Marduk. As a water-god, and more particularly as the god to
whom the largest body of water known to the Babylonians was
sacred, Ea was regarded as the source and giver of wisdom.
THE PANTHEON IN THE DA YS OF HAMMURABI. 137
Fountains everywhere were sacred to him ; and so he becomes
also the giver of fertility and plenty. Berosus tells us of a
mystic being, half man, half fish, who spent his nights in the
waters of the gulf, but who would come out of the waters
during the day to give instruction to the people, until that time
steeped in ignorance and barbarism. This ' Cannes,' as Bero-
sus is said l to have called him, was none other than Ea. As
the great benefactor of mankind, it is natural that Ea should
have come to be viewed as the god whose special function it is
to protect the human race, to advance it in all its good under-
takings, to protect it against the evil designs of gods or demons.
In this role, he appears in the religious literature — in the
epics, the cosmogony, and the ritual — of Babylonia. There
is no god conceived in so universal a manner as Ea. All local
connection with Eridu disappears. He belongs to no particu-
lar district. His worship is not limited to any particular spot.
All of Babylonia lays claim to him. The ethical import of
such a conception is manifestly great, and traces of it are to
be found in the religious productions. It impressed upon the
Babylonians the common bond uniting all mankind. The cult
of Ea must have engendered humane feelings, softening the
rivalry existing among the ancient centers of Babylonian power,
and leading the people a considerable distance, on the road to
the conception of a common humanity. When the gods decide
to destroy mankind, it is Ea who intercedes on behalf of human-
ity ; when the demon of disease has entered a human body, it
is to Ea that, in the last resort, the appeal is made to free the
sufferer from his pain. Ea is the god of the physicians. Nay,
more, it is Ea who presided at the birth of humanity, so that
1 We only know the name through Eusebius' extract from Alexander Polyhistor's
digest of Berosus. The form, therefore, cannot be vouched for. The various mod-
ern attempts to explain the name have failed (see e.g., Lenormant's Magie und
Wahrsagekunst dcr Chaldacr, 2d German edition, pp. 376-379). There may be
some ultimate connection between Cannes and Jonah (see Trumbull in Journal of
Bibl. Liter, xi. 58, note).
138 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
his protection reaches far back, beyond even the beginnings of
civilization, almost to the beginning of things. Lastly, as the
god of civilization, it is to him that the great works of art are
ascribed. He is the god of the smithy, the patron of the gold-
and silversmiths, of workers in lapis-lazuli, and all kinds of
precious stones. He is the god of sculpture. The great bulls
and lions that guarded the approaches to the temple and palace
chambers, as well as the statues of the gods and kings, were
the work of his hands. Furthermore, he is the patron of
weavers, as of other arts. This conception may have been
perfected in a general way, and in all probability was perfected
before the days of Hammurabi, though perhaps not prom-
inently brought forward; but important modifications were
introduced into it, through the compromise that had to be
arranged between the position of Ea and that of Marduk.
Of course, neither the rulers nor the priests of Babylon could
have permitted the reverence for Ea to have gone to the
length of throwing Marduk into the shade. Many of the
functions assigned to Ea seemed to belong of right to Marduk,
who, as the patron of Babylon, presided over the destinies of
what to the Babylonians was the essential part of mankind,—
namely, themselves. Moreover, Babylon being the seat of
culture as well as of power, in the period following upon
Hammurabi, Marduk was necessarily conceived as possessing
the same wisdom that distinguishes Ea. As a consequence,
the attributes of Ea were transferred in a body to Marduk.
An amalgamation of the two, however, such as took place in
the case of other deities, was neither possible, nor, indeed,
desirable. It was not possible, because of the antiquity of the
Ea cult and the peculiar position that he, as a common heir-
loom of all Babylonia, occupied ; nor was it desirable, for to
do so would be to cut off completely the bond uniting Babylon
to its own past and to the rest of Babylonia. The solution of
the problem was found in making Ea, the father of Marduk —
THE PANTHEON IN THE DAYS OF HAMMURABI. 139
the loving and proud father who willingly transfers all his
powers and qualities to his son, who rejoices in the triumph of
his offspring, and who suffers no pangs of jealousy when
beholding the superior honors shown to Marduk, both by the
gods and by men.
EA AND MARDUK.
The combination of the two gods is particularly frequent in
the so-called incantation texts. Marduk becomes the mediator
between Ea and mankind. The man smitten with disease, or
otherwise in trouble, appeals to Marduk for help, who promptly
brings the petition to his father Ea. The latter, after modestly
declaring that there is nothing that he knows which his son
Marduk does not know, gives Marduk the necessary instruc-
tions, which in turn are conveyed to the one crying for divine
succor. It is clear that these texts have been reshaped with
the intention of adding to the glory of Marduk. They must,
therefore, have been remodelled at a time when the Marduk
cult was in the ascendancy. This was after the days of
Hammurabi, and before the subjugation of Babylonia to
Assyrian rule. The limits thus assigned are, to be sure,
broad, but from what has above been said as to the intellectual
activity reigning in the days of Hammurabi, we need not
descend far below the death of the great conqueror to find the
starting-point for the remodelling of the texts in question.
Not all of them, of course, were so reshaped. There are quite
a number in which Ea is alone and directly appealed to, and
these form a welcome confirmation of the supposition that
those in which Ea is joined to Marduk have been reshaped
with a desire to make them conform to the position of Marduk
in the Babylonian pantheon. Again, there are incantations in
which the name of Marduk appears without Ea. Such are
either productions of a later period, of the time when Marduk
had already assumed his superior position, or what is also
140 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
possible, though less probable, old compositions in which the
name of Ea has been simply replaced by that of Marduk. An
especially interesting example of the manner in which ancient
productions have been worked over by the Babylonian theolo-
gians, with a view to bringing their favorite Marduk into
greater prominence, appears in one of the episodes of the
Babylonian cosmogony. Prior to the creation of man a great
monster known as Tiamat had to be subdued. The gods all
shrink in terror before her. Only one succeeds in conquering
her. In the form of the story, as we have it, this hero is
Marduk, but it is quite evident1 that the honor originally
belonged to an entirely different god, one who is much older,
and who stands much higher than the god of Babylon. This
was Bel, — the old god of Nippur who was conceived as the
god of earth par excellence, and to whom therefore the task of
preparing the earth for the habitation of mankind properly
belonged. How do the Babylonian theologians, who stand
under the influence of the political conditions prevailing in
Babylonia after the union of the Babylonian states, reconcile
this older and true form of the episode with the form in which
they have recast it ? The gods who are called the progenitors
of Marduk are represented as rejoicing upon seeing Marduk
equipped for the fray. In chorus they greet and bless him,
" Marduk be king." They present him with additional weap-
ons, and encourage him for the contest. Upon hearing of his
success the gods vie with one another in conferring honors
upon Marduk. They bestow all manner of glorious epithets
upon him ; and, to cap the climax, the old Bel, known as ' father
Bel,' steps forward and transfers to him his name, Ml matati?
' lord of lands.' To bestow the name was equivalent to trans-
ferring Bel's powers to Marduk ; and so Marduk is henceforth
1 For fuller proof, see the chapter on " The Cosmology of the Babylonians."
2 This, it will be remembered (see above, p. 118), is one of the titles of Mar-
duk in one of Hammurabi's inscriptions, — an important point for the date of the
episode in its present form.
THE PANTHEON IN THE DA YS OF HAMMURABI. 141
known as Bel. But Ea must be introduced into the episode. It
is not sufficient that Bel, the original subduer of Tiamat, should
pay homage to Marduk ; Ea also greets his son, and bestows
his name upon him,1 — that is, transfers his powers to his son.
There is a special reason for this. The overthrow of Tiamat
is followed by the creation of man. This function properly
belongs to Bel, both as the god of earth and as the subduer of
Tiamat. According to one — and probably the oldest — version
of this part of the Babylonian cosmogony which was embodied
in the work of Berosus,2 it is Bel who creates mankind. The
substitution of Marduk for Bel necessitated the transference of
the role of creator to Marduk likewise, and yet the latter could
not take this upon himself without the consent of his father
Ea, who had become the god of humanity par excellence. Ea
could interpose no objection against Bel being replaced by
Marduk in vanquishing the monster, but when it came to draw-
ing the conclusion and replacing Bel by Marduk -also in the
creation of man, the case was different. If Bel was to be
replaced, Ea had a prior claim. Marduk could only take
the new functions upon himself after receiving the powers of
Ea. That is the force of Ea's saying that Marduk's name also
shall be Ea just as his. This transference of the name of Ea
to Marduk is in itself an indication that there must have
existed a second version in Babylonia — probably of later
origin than the other — of the creation of man, according
to which Ea, and not Bel, was the creator. We shall
have occasion to see, in a future chapter, that there were
at least two different versions current in Babylonia of the
creation of the gods and of the universe. The open-
ing chapters in Genesis form an interesting parallel to
show the manner in which two different versions of one and
the same subject may be combined. There is, therefore,
1 Literally, ' Ea shall be his name, his as mine.'
2 According to Syncellus. In cuneiform texts the old Bel is at times invoked as
the creator of mankind.
142 BAB YLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
nothing improbable in the supposition that a later version,
reflecting a period when Bel had sunk into comparative insig-
nificance, made Ea the creator of mankind instead of Bel, and
that still later a solution of the apparent inconsistency involved
in transferring only part of Bel's powers to Marduk was found
by securing Ea's consent to the acknowledgment of Marduk
not merely as creator of mankind but of the heavenly vault as
well. Jensen l has brought other evidence to show that Ea was
once regarded as the creator of mankind. One of his titles
is that of 'potter,' and mankind, according to Babylonian
theories, was formed of ' clay.' Moreover, in a Babylonian
myth that will be set forth in its proper place, Ea expressly
figures in the role of creating a mysterious being, Uddushu-na-
mir, whose name signifies ' his light shines.' Such a proper
name, too, as " Ea-bani," i.e., ' Ea creates,' points in the same
direction.
In other literary productions of Babylonia, such as, e.g.,
the so-called Izdubar epic, Ea again appears without Marduk,
showing that this story has not been remodeled, or that the
later version, in which the traces of a recasting may have been
seen, has not been discovered. In the deluge story, which
forms part of the Izdubar epic, Ea alone is the hero. It is he
who saves humanity from complete annihilation, and who paci-
fies the angered Bel. Marduk's name does not appear in the
entire epic. We have found it necessary to dwell thus at
length upon these evidences of the recasting of the literary
products of ancient Babylonia under the influence of changed
conceptions of the gods and of their relations to one another,
for upon the understanding of these changes, our appreciation
of the development of religious beliefs in Babylonia, and all
connected with these beliefs, hinges. The epoch of Hammu-
rabi was a crucial one for Babylonia from a religious as well
as from a political point of view.
1 Kosmologic, pp. 293, 294.
THE PANTHEON IN THE DA YS OF HAMMURABI. 143
DAMKINA.
The consort of Ea figures occasionally in the historical texts
of Hammurabi's successors. Agumkakrimi invokes Ea and
Damkina, asking these gods, who 'dwell in the great ocean'
surrounding the earth, to grant him long life. In addition to
this, the antiquity of the literary productions in which her
name appears justifies us in reckoning her among the gods of
Babylonia of Hammurabi's time. Her name signifies * lady
of the earth,' and there is evidently a theoretical substratum
to this association of Ea, the water-god, with an earth-goddess.
The one forms the complement to the other ; and Marduk, as
the son of water and earth, takes his place in the theory as the
creator of the world. In this form the ' natural philosophy ' of
Babylonia survived to a late period. Nicolas of Damascus
still knows (probably through Berosus) that Ea and Damkina1
had a son Bel (i.e., Marduk). The survival of the name is a
proof that, despite the silence of the historical texts, she was
a prominent personage in Babylonian mythology, even though
she did not figure largely in the cult. She appears in the
magical texts quite frequently #t the side of Ea. In a hymn 2
where a description occurs of the boat containing Ea, Damkina
his wife, and Marduk their son, together with the ferryman
and some other personages sailing across the ocean, we may
see traces of the process of symbolization to which the old
figures of mythology were subjected.
SHAMASH.
Passing on, we find Hammurabi as strongly attached to the
worship of the old sun-god as any of his predecessors. Next
to Babylon, he was much concerned with making improve-
ments in Sippar. The Temple of Shamash at Larsa also was
1 Aos and Dauke. 2 Rawlinson, iv. 25.
144 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
improved and enlarged by him. Hammurabi's example is fol-
lowed by his successors. Agumkakrimi invokes Shamash as
'warrior of heaven and earth'; and it is likely that the prece-
dent furnished by these two kings, who considered it consistent
with devotion to Marduk to single out the places sacred to
Shamash for special consideration, had much to do in main-
taining the popularity of sun-worship in Babylonia and Assyria.
Kara-indash, of the Cassite dynasty (c. 1450 B.C.), restores the
temple of Shamash at Larsa, and Mili-shikhu, two centuries later,
assigns to Shamash the second place in his pantheon, naming
him before Marduk. Foreign rulers were naturally not so deeply
attached to Marduk as were the natives of Babylon. In the
Assyrian pantheon Shamash occupies the third place, following
immediately upon the two special deities of Assyria. One of the
greatest of the northern kings erects a temple in honor of the
god, and the later Babylonian kings vie with one another in
doing honor to the two oldest sanctuaries of Shamash, at
Sippar and Larsa. Perhaps the pristine affinity between Mar-
duk, who, as we saw, was originally a sun-deity, and Shamash,
also had a share in Hammurabi's fondness for coupling these
two gods. When describing his. operations at Sippar he speaks
of himself as ' doing good to the flesh of Shamash and Marduk.'
-Hammurabi felt himself to be honoring Marduk, through paying
homage to a deity having affinity with the patron protector of
Babylon.
NINNI, OR INNANNA.
We have already come across a deity of this name in a
previous chapter.1 Hammurabi tells us, in one of his inscrip-
tions, that he has restored the temple in honor of Innanna at
Hallabi — a town near Sippar.2 Innanna, or Ninni, signifying
1 See p. 79.
2 See Jensen, Keils Bibl. 3, i, p. 108, note 5. Tiele, Gesch. p. 126, apparently
identifies Innanna of Hallabi with Tashmit. but, so far as I can see, without sufficient
THE PANTHEON IN THE DA YS OF HAMMURABI. 145
merely 'lady,' or 'great lady,' appears to have become a very
general name for a goddess, hence the addition ' of Hallabi,'
which Hammurabi is careful to make. At the same time the
designation ' lady of Hallabi ' points to her being a consort of
a male deity who was the patron of the place. May this have
been the moon-god again, as in the case of the other Innanna ?
Our knowledge of this goddess is confined to what the king
tells us about her. For him she is the mistress whose glory
fills heaven and earth, but when he adds that she has placed in
his hands the reins of government, this only means that the
goddess recognizes his right to supreme authority over the
Babylonian states — not that he owes his power to her. It is
after he has succeeded in making Babylon the capital of a great
kingdom that he proceeds to improve the temple of Innanna.
BEL AND THE TRIAD OF BABYLONIAN THEOLOGY.
Among the literary remains of Hammurabi's days we have a
hymn in which the chief gods worshipped by the king are
enumerated in succession. The list begins with Bel, and then
mentions Sin, Ninib, Ishtar, Shamash, and Ramman. We
should expect to find at the head of the list Marduk. The
hymn may be older than Hammurabi, who, perhaps, is quoting
or copying it; and since the Bel who is here at the head of the
pantheon is the god of Nippur, the hymn may originally have
belonged to the ritual of that place. For Hammurabi the
highest ' Bel,' or lord, is Marduk, and there is hardly room for
doubt that in using this hymn as a means of passing on to sing-
ing his own praises, with which the inscription in question ends,
Hammurabi has in mind the patron god of Babylon when
speaking of Bel?1 It is this amalgamation of the old Bel with
Marduk that marks, as we have seen, the transition to the use
of Bel's name as a mere title of Marduk. Elsewhere, however,
1 Here written En-lil, as the Bel of Nippur.
146 J>'A B YL ONIAN-ASS YR1AN RELIGION.
Hammurabi uses Bel to designate the old god. So when he
calls himself the proclaimer of Anu and Bel l the association
with Anu makes it impossible that Marduk should be meant.
At times he appears to refer in the same inscription, now to
the old Bel and again to Bel-Marduk, under the same designa-
tion. When Kurigalzu, a member of the Cassite dynasty
(V. 1400 B.C.), speaks of 'Bel, the lord of lands,' to whom he
erects a temple in the new city, Dur-Kurigalzu — some forty
miles to the northeast of Babylon — it is the old Bel who is again
meant. While acknowledging Marduk as one of the chief gods,
these foreign rulers in Babylonia — the Cassites — did not feel
the same attachment to him as Hammurabi did. They gave the
preference to the old god of Nippur, and, indeed, succeeded in
their attempt to give to the old city of Nippur some of its pristine
glory. They devoted themselves assiduously to the care of the
great temple at Nippur. There are some indications of an
attempt made by them to make Nippur the capital of their
empire. In the case of Hammurabi's immediate successor, as
has been pointed out, the equation Bel-Marduk is distinctly set
down, but, for all that, the double employment of the name con-
tinues even through the period of the Assyrian supremacy over
Babylonia. The northern rulers now use Bel to designate the
more ancient god, and, again, merely as a designation of Mar-
duk. Tiglathpileser I. (see note 2, below) expressly adds 'the
older ' when speaking of Bel. When Sargon refers to Bel, * the
lord of lands, who dwells on the sacred mountain of the gods,'
or when Tiglathpileser I. calls Bel 'the father of the gods,'
' the king of the group of spirits ' known as the Anunaki, it is
1 Attached to the name here (Rawlinson, i. 4, no. xv-g), which is written ideo-
graphically En-Lil, is the designation da-gan-ni, which has occasioned considerable
discussion. See Jensen, Kosmologie, pp. 449-456. It seems to me that the addition
which emphasizes this identity of Bel with another god, Dagan, is to indicate that
the Bel of the triad, and not Bel-Marduk, is here meant. Somewhat in the same way
Tiglathpileser I. (Rawlinson, i. 14, viii. 87) distinguishes the older Bel by calling him
1 Bel labara,' i.e., ' Bel the older.'
THE PANTHEON IN THE DA YS OF HAMMURABI. 147
of course only the old Bel, the lord of the lower region, or of the
earth, who can be meant ; but when, as is much more frequently
the case, the kings of Assyria, down to the fall of the empire,
associate Bel with Nabu, speak of Bel and the gods of Akkad
(i.e., Babylonia), and use Bel, moreover, to designate Baby-
lonia,1 it is equally clear that Marduk is meant. In the Neo-
Babylonian empire Marduk alone is used.
The continued existence of a god Bel in the Babylonian
pantheon, despite the amalgamation of Bel with Marduk, is a
phenomenon that calls for some comment. The explanation
is to be found in the influence of the theological system that
must have been developed in part, at least, even before the
union of the Babylonian states.2 Bel, as the god of earth, was
associated with Anu, as the god of heaven, and Ea, as the god
of the deep, to form a triad that embraced the entire universe.
When, therefore, Anu, Bel, and Ea were invoked, it was equiva-
lent to naming all the powers that influenced the fate of man.
They embraced, as it were, the three kingdoms of the gods,
within which all the other gods could be comprised. The sys-
tematization involved in the assumption of a triad of gods
controlling the entire pantheon can hardly be supposed to have
been a popular process. It betokens an amount of thought
and speculation, a comprehensive view of the powers of nature,
that could only have arisen in minds superior to the average
intelligence. In other words, the conception of the triad Anu,
Bel, and Ea is again an evidence of the existence of school-
men and of schools of religious thought in the days of the
ancient empire. So far, however, as Hammurabi is concerned,
he only refers to a duality — Anu and Bel — which, for him, com-
prises all the other gods. He is the 'proclaimer of Anu and Bel.'
It is Anu and Bel who give him sovereignty over the land. In
1 f Governor of Del ' for governor of Babylonia, and ' subjects of Bel ' for subjects
of Babylonia.
2 See p. 89 and chapter vii.
148 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
the texts of the second period the triad does not occur until we
come to the reign of a king, Mili-shikhu, who lives at least eight
centuries after Hammurabi. Ea, in fact, does not occur at all
in those inscriptions of the king that have as yet been discov-
ered. If any conclusion is to be drawn from this omission, it
is certainly this, — that there are several stages in the develop-
ment of the ancient theological system of Babylonia. At first
a duality of kingdoms — the kingdom of what is above and be-
low— was conceived as comprising all the personified powers
of nature, but this duality was replaced by a triad through
the addition of the god who stands at the head of all water-
deities. Of -course the assumption of a duality instead of a
triad may have been due to a difference among existing schools
of thought. At all events, there seems to be no political rea-
son for the addition of Ea, and it is difficult to say, therefore,
how soon the conception of a triad standing at the head of the
pantheon arose. We have found it in Gudea's days, and it
must, therefore, have existed in the days of Hammurabi, with-
out, perhaps, being regarded as an essential dogma as yet. A
direct and natural consequence of Bel's position in the triad
was that, by the side of Bel-Marduk, the older Bel continued to
be invoked in historical inscriptions. Since Anu and Ea
were appealed to by themselves, the former occasionally, the
latter more frequently, there was no reason why a ruler should
not at times be prompted to introduce an invocation to Bel,
without the direct association with Anu and Ea. The con-
fusion that thus ensues between the two Bels was not of serious
moment, since from the context one could without difficulty
determine which of the two was meant; and what we, with our
limited knowledge of ancient Babylonia, are able to do, must
have been an easy task for the Babylonians themselves.1
1 Occasionally a king (so e.g. Nabubaliddin, c. 883 B.C.) associates Anu with Ea,
and omits Bel (Rawlinson, v. 60, ii. 21), as though with the intent of avoiding
confusion.
THE PANTHEON IN THE DA YS OF HAMMURABI. 149
It is tempting to suppose that the first command of the
Decalogue (Exodus, xx) contains an implied reference to the
Babylonian triad.
ANU, BEL, AND EA.
The theory of the triad succeeds in maintaining its hold
upon Babylonian minds from a certain period on, through
all political and intellectual vicissitudes. To invoke Anu,
Bel, and Ea becomes a standing formula that the rulers
of Babylonia as well as of Assyria are fond of employing.
These three are the great gods par excellence. They occupy a
place of their own. The kings do not feel as close to them
as to Marduk, or to Ashur, or even to the sun-god, or to the
moon-god. The invocation of the triad partakes more of a
formal character, as though in giving to these three gods the
first place, the writers felt that they were following an ancient
precedent that had more of a theoretical than a practical value
for their days. So among Assyrian rulers, Ashur-rish-ishi
(c. 1150 B.C.) derives his right to the throne from the authority
with which he is invested by the triad. Again, in the formal
curses which the kings called down upon the destroyers of
the inscriptions or statues that they set up, the appeal to Anu,
Bel, and Ea is made. Ashurnasirbal calls upon the triad not
to listen to the prayers of such as deface his monuments.
Sargon has an interesting statement in one of his inscrip-
tions, according to which the names of the months were
fixed by Anu, Bel, and Ea. This ' archaeological ' theory
illustrates very well the extraneous position occupied by the
triad. The months, as we shall see, are sacred, each to a
different god. The gods thus distinguished are the ones that
are directly concerned in the fortunes of the state, — Sin,
Ashur, Ishtar, and the like. Anu, Bel, and Ea are not in the
list, and the tradition, or rather the dogma according to which
they assign the names is evidently an attempt to make good
150 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
this omission by placing them, as it were, beyond the reach of
the calendar. In short, so far as the historical texts are con-
cerned which reflect the popular beliefs, the triad represents a
theological doctrine rather than a living force. In combina-
tion, Anu, Bel, and Ea did not mean as much, nor the
same thing, to a Babylonian or an Assyrian, as when he said
Marduk, or Nabu, or Ashur, or Sin, as the case might be. It
was different when addressing these gods individually, as was
occasionally done. The Assyrians were rather fond of intro-
ducing Anu by himself in their prayers, and the Babylonians
were prompted to a frequent mention of Ea by virtue of his
relationship to Marduk, but when this was done Anu and Ea
meant something different than when mentioned in one breath
along with Bel.
BELIT.
One might have supposed that when Bel became Marduk,
the consort of Bel would also become Marduk's consort.
Such, however, does not appear to be the case, at least so far
as the epoch of Hammurabi is concerned. When he calls
himself * the beloved shepherd of Belit,' it is the wife of the
old Bel that is meant, and so when Agumkakrimi mentions
Bel and Belit together, as the gods that decree his fate on
earth, there is no doubt as to what Belit is meant. In later
days, however, and in Assyria more particularly, there seems
to be a tendency towards generalizing the name (much as that
of Bel) to the extent of applying it in the sense of ' mistress '
to the consort of the chief god of the pantheon ; and that
happening to be Ashur in Assyria accounts for the fact, which
might otherwise appear strange, that Tiglathpileser I. (c. 1140
B.C.) calls Belit the ' lofty consort and beloved of Ashur.'
Ashurbanabal (668-626 B.C.) does the same, and even goes
further and declares himself to be the offspring of Ashur and
Belit. On the other hand, in the interval between these two
THE PANTHEON IN THE DA YS OF HAMMURABI. 151
kings we find Shalmaneser II. (860-825 B-c) calling Belit 'the
mother of the great gods ' and ' the wife of Bel,' making it evi-
dent that the old Belit of the south is meant, and since Ashur-
banabal on one occasion also calls the goddess 'the beloved of
Bel,'1 it follows that in his days two Belits were still recognized,
or perhaps it would be more accurate to say two uses of the
term, — one specifically for the consort of the Babylonian Bel,
the god of the earth, with his ancient seat at Nippur; the Qther
of a more general character, though still limited as ' lady ' to
the consort of the chief gods, just as * Bel,' while acquiring the
general sense of ' lord,' was restricted in actual usage to the
greatest ' lords ' only. An indication of this distinction, some-
what parallel to the addition of Dagan to Bel, to indicate that the
old Bel was meant,2 appears in the sobriquet ' of Babylonia,' 3
which Ashurbanabal gives to the goddess in one place where
the old Belit is meant. Under the influence of this Assyrian,
extension of the term, Nabopolassar, in the Neo-Babylonian
period, applies the title to the consort of Shamash at Sippar,
but he is careful to specify * Belit of Sippar,' in order to avoid
misunderstanding. Besides being applied to the consorts of
Ashur and of Shamash, 'Belit,' in the general sense of 'mis-
tress,' is applied only to another goddess, the great Ishtar of the
Assyrian pantheon — generally, however, as a title, not as a
name of the goddess. The important position she occupied in
the Assyrian pantheon seemed to justify this further modifica-
tion and extension in the use of the term. Occasionally, Ishtar is
directly and expressly called ' Belit.' So, Ashurbanabal speaks
of a temple that he has founded in Calah to ' Belit mati,' 4 ' the
Belit (or lady) of the land,' where the context speaks in favor
of identifying Belit with the great goddess Ishtar. Again
1 Rassam, Cylinder ix. 75.
2 See chapter xii., " The Assyrian Pantheon," p. 208.
3 Rassam, Cylinder viii. 98, 99. f Belit of Babylonia, honored among the great
gods.'
4 Annah, iii. 135.
152 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
Ashurbanabal, in a dedicatory inscription giving an account of
improvements made in the temple of Ishtar, addresses the
goddess as Belit * lady of lands, dwelling in E-mash-mash.' 1
ANU AND ANATUM.
In the second period of Babylonian history the worship of
the supreme god of heaven becomes even more closely bound
up with Anu's position as the first member of the inseparable
triad than was the case in the first period. For Hammurabi,
as has been noted, Anu is only a half-real figure who in
association with Bel is represented as giving his endorsement
to the king's authority.2 The manner in which Agumka-
krimi introduces Anu is no less characteristic for the age
of Hammurabi and his successors. At the beginning of .his
long inscription,3 he enumerates the chief gods under whose
protection he places himself. As a Cassitic ruler, he assigns
the first place to the chief Cassite deity, Shukamuna, a god of
war whom the Babylonian scholars identified with their own
Nergal.4 Shukamuna is followed by the triad Anu, Bel, and
Ea. Marduk occupies a fifth place, after which comes a
second triad, Sin, Shamash "the mighty hero," and Ishtar5
" the strong one among the gods." The inscription is devoted
to the king's successful capture of the statues of Marduk and
Sarpanitum out of the hands of the Khani, and the restoration
1 The name of the temple. See IIR. 66, 11. i and 10. The title ' belit matati,'
' lady of the lands ' is evidently introduced in imitation of ' bel matati/ ' lord of lands,'
belonging to Bel and then to Marduk.
2 Sayce's view (Hibbert Lectures, p. 186), according to which Anu was originally
the local god of Erech, is erroneous.
3 VR. pi. 33.
4 Delitzsch, Die Kossaer, pp. 25, 27.
5 The omission of Ramman here, though invoked at the close of the inscription,
is noticeable. Ishtar takes the place that in the more developed system belongs to
the god of storms, who with the moon-god and sun-god constitutes a second triad.
See p. 163.
THE PANTHEON IN THE DA YS OF HAMMURABI. 153
of the shrines of these deities at Babylon. At the close, the
king Agumkakrimi appeals to Anu and his consort Anatum,1
who are asked to bless the king in heaven, to Bel and Belit
who are asked to fix his fate on earth, and to Ea and Dam-
kina, inhabiting the deep,2 who are to grant him long life. As
in the beginning of the inscription, the thought of the triad —
Anu, Bel, Ea — evidently underlies this interesting invocation,
but at the same time the association of a consort with Anu
brings the god into closer relationship with his fellows. He
takes on — if the contradiction in terms be permitted — a
more human shape. His consort bears a name that is simply
the feminine form to Anu, just as Belit is the feminine to Bel.
'Anu,' signifying 'the one on high,' — a feminine to it was
formed, manifestly under the influence of the notion that every
god must have a consort of some kind. After Agumkakrimi no
further mention of Anatum occurs, neither in the inscriptions
of Babylonian nor of Assyrian rulers. We are permitted to
conclude, therefore, that Anatum was a product of the schools,
and one that never took a strong hold on the popular mind.
Among the Assyrian kings who in other respects also show
less dependence upon the doctrines evolved in the Babylonian
schools, and whose inscriptions reflect to a greater degree the
purely popular phases of the faith, we find Anu mentioned
with tolerable frequency, and in a manner that betrays less
emphasis upon the position of the god as a member of the
triad. Still, it is rather curious that he does not appear even
in the inscriptions of the Assyrian kings by himself, but in
association with another god. Thus Tiglathpileser I. (c. 1130
B.C.) gives an elaborate account of an old temple to Anu and
1 Written with the sign An, and the feminine ending turn, but probably pronounced
Anatum. The form Anat (without the ending) is used by many scholars, as Sarpanit
and Tashmit are used instead of Sarpanitum and Tashmitum. I prefer the fuller
forms of these names. Anum similarly is better than Anu, but the latter has become
so common that it might as well be retained.
2 VR. 33, vii. 34-44.
154 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
Ramman in the city of Ashur that he restores to more than
its former grandeur.1 This dedication of a temple to two
deities is unusual. Ramman is the god of thunder and storms,
whose seat of course is in the heavens. He stands close,
therefore, to Anu, the supreme god of heaven. In the religious
productions, this relationship is expressed by making Ramman
the son of Anu. From a passage descriptive of this temple it
would appear that the old temple founded by King Samsi-
Ramman, who lived several centuries before Tiglathpileser,
was dedicated to Ramman. It looks, therefore, as though the
association of Anu with Ramman was the work of the later
king. What his motive was in thus combining Anu with
Ramman it is difficult to say, but in his account of the res-
toration of the sanctuary, he so consistently mentions Anu and
Ramman together,2 designating them unitedly as 'the great
gods my lords,' that one gains the impression that the two were
inseparable in his mind, Ramman being perhaps regarded
simply as a manifestation of Anu. The supposition finds some
support in the closing words of the inscription, where, in hurl-
ing the usual curses upon those who should attempt to destroy
his monuments, he invokes Ramman alone, whom he asks to
punish the offender by his darts, by hunger, by distress of every
kind, and by death.
Elsewhere Anu appears in association with Dagan, of whom
we shall have occasion to speak in the chapter on the Assyrian
pantheon. Suffice it to say here that Dagan in this connection
is an equivalent of Bel. When, therefore, Ashurbanabal and
Sargon call themselves 'the favorite of Anu and Dagan,' it is
the same as though they spoke of Anu and Bel. Apart from
this, Anu only appears when a part or the whole of the Assyrian
pantheon is enumerated. Thus we come across Anu, Ramman,
and Ishtar as the chief gods of the city of Ashur," and again
1 IR. pi. 14, col. vii. 71, viii. 88. 2 NO less than nine times.
3 Tiglathpileser I.
THE PANTHEON IN THE DAYS OF HAMMURABI. 155
Anu, Ashur, Shamash, Ramman, and Ishtar.1 Finally, Sargon
who names the eight gates of his palace after the chief gods of
the land does not omit Anu, whom he describes as the 'one who
blesses his handiwork.' Otherwise we have Anu only when
the triad Anu, Bel, and Ea is invoked. Once Ramman-nirari I.
(c. 1325 B.C.) adds Ishtar to the triad. After Sargon we no
longer find Anu's name at all among the deities worshipped in
Assyria. On the whole, then, Anu's claim to reverence rests
in Assyria as well as in Babylonia upon his position in the triad,
and while Assyria is less influenced by the ancient system
devised in Babylonia whereby Anu, Bel, and Ea come to be the
representatives of the three kingdoms among which the gods
are distributed, still Anu as a specific deity, ruling in his own
right, remains a rather shadowy figure. The only temple in his
honor is the one which he shares with Ramman, and which,
as noted, appears to have been originally devoted to the ser-
vice of the latter. One other factor that must be taken into
account to explain the disappearance of Anu is the gradual
enforcement of Ashur's claim to the absolute headship of the
Assyrian pantheon. Either Anu or Ashur had to be assigned
to this place, and when circumstances decided the issue in
favor of Ashur, there was no place worthy of Anu as a specific
deity. Ashur usurps in a measure the role of Anu. So far as
Babylonia was concerned, there was still in the twelfth century
B.C. a city * Der ' which is called the ' city of Ann.' The city
is probably of very ancient foundation, and its continued asso-
ciation with Anu forms an interesting survival of a local con-
ception that appears to have been once current of the god.
In the religious literature, especially in that part of it which
furnishes us with the scholastic recastings of the popular tradi-
tions, Anu is a much more prominent figure than in the his-
torical texts. From being merely the personification of the
heavens, he is raised to the still higher dignity of symbolizing,
1 Ramman-nirari I.
156 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
as Jensen puts it,1 the abstract principle of which both the
heavens and earth are emanations. All the earliest gods con-
ceived of by popular tradition as existing from the beginning
of things are viewed as manifestations of Anu, or of Ann and
Anatum in combination. He gives ear to prayers, but he is not
approached directly. The gods are his messengers, who come
and give him report of what is going on.2 He is a god for the
gods rather than for men. When his daughter Ishtar is insulted
she appeals to her father Anu ; and when the gods are terrified
they take refuge with Anu. Armed with a mighty weapon
whose assault nothing can withstand, Anu is surrounded by a
host of gods and powerful spirits who are ready to follow his
lead and to do his service.
RAMMAN.
With Ramman we reach a deity whose introduction into the
Babylonian pantheon and whose position therein appears to be
entirely independent of Marduk.
The reading of the name as Ramman (or Rammanu) is pro-
visional. The ideograph Im with which the name is written
designates the god as the power presiding over storms ; and
while it is certain that, in Assyria at least, the god was known
as Ramman, which means ' the thunderer,' it is possible that
this was an epithet given to the god, and not his real or his
oldest name. It is significant that in the El-Amarna tablets
(c. 1500 B.C.), where the god Im appears as an element in
proper names, the reading Addu is vouched for, and this
form has been justly brought into connection with a very famous
solar deity of Syria, — Hadad. The worship of Hadad, we know,
was widely spread in Palestine and Syria, and there is conclu-
sive evidence that Hadad (or Adad), as a name for the god Im,
was known in Babylonia. Professor Oppert is of the opinion
1 Kosmologie. p. 274. 2 See the list IIIR. 68, 26 seq.
THE PANTHEON IN THE DA YS OF HAMMURABI. 157
that Adad represents the oldest name of the god. Quite
recently the proposition has been made that the real name of
the deity was Immerti.1 The ideograph in this case would arise
through the curtailment of the name (as is frequently the case
in the cuneiform syllabary), and the association of Im with
* storm ' and ' wind ' would be directly dependent upon the
nature of the deity in question. The material at hand is not
sufficient for deciding the question. Besides Irnmeru, Adad,
and Ramman, the deity was also known as Mer — connected
apparently with Immeru.2 So much is certain, that Ramman
appears to have been the name currently used in Assyria for
this god. Adad may have been employed occasionally in Baby-
lonia, as was Mer in proper names, but that it was not the
common designation is proved by a list of gods (published by
Bezold9) in which \\\e foreign equivalent for Im is set down as
Adad. We may for the present, therefore, retain Ramman,
while bearing in mind that we have only proof of its being an
epithet applied to the god, not necessarily his real name and
in all probabilities not the oldest name.
We meet with the god for the first time in the hymn to which
reference has already been made,4 and where the god is men-
tioned together with Shamash. If the suggestion above thrown
out is correct, that the hymn is older than the days of Ham-
murabi, Ramman too would be older than his first mention in
historical texts. However, it is worthy of note that in this
hymn each of the other gods mentioned receives a line for him-
self, and that Ramman is the only one who is tacked on to
another deity. It is not strange that in making copies of older
1 Thureau-Dangin, Journal Asiatique, 1895, PP- 3^5-393- The name of this
deity has been the subject of much discussion. For a full discussion of the subject
with an account of the recent literature, see an article by the writer in The American
Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, xii. 159-162.
2 Arising perhaps after Im came into use as the ideographic form.
3 Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch., xi. 173-174 and pi. i, col. i. 7.
4 See p. 145 and also p. 161.
158 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
texts, especially those of a religious character, the scribes should
have introduced certain modifications. At all events, the god
does not acquire any degree of prominence until the days of
Hammurabi ; so that whatever his age and origin, he belongs in
a peculiar sense to the pantheon of Hammurabi rather than to
that of the old Babylonian period. The successor of Ham-
murabi, Samsu-iluna, dedicates a fort, known as Dur-padda, to
Ramman whom he addresses as his ' helper,' along with several
other gods. Despite this fact, his worship does not appear to
have been very firmly established in Babylonia, for Agum-
kakrimi, who follows upon Samsu-iluna, does not make mention
of Ramman. During the reign of the Cassite dynasty, how-
ever, the worship of Ramman appears to have gained a stronger
foothold. Several kings of this dynasty have incorporated the
name of this deity into their own names, and in an .inscription
dealing with events that transpired in the reign of one of these
kings, Ramman occupies a prominent place. Immediately after
the great triad, Anu, Bel, and Ea, there is enumerated a second,
Sin, Shamash, and Ramman, and only then there follows
Marduk.1 More than this, Ramman is introduced for a sec-
ond time in conjunction with Shamash, as in the hymn of Ham-
murabi. The two are appealed to as ' the divine lords of
justice.' The conqueror of the Cassites, Nebuchadnezzar I.,
also holds Ramman in high esteem. For him, Ramman is
the god of battle who in companionship with Ishtar abets the
king in his great undertakings. He addresses Ramman as
the great lord of heaven, the lord of subterranean waters and
of rain, whose curse is invoked against the one who sets aside
the decrees of Nebuchadnezzar or who defaces the monument
the king sets up. While acknowledging the supremacy of
Marduk, upon whose appeal he proceeds to Babylonia to rid
the country of its oppressors, Nebuchadnezzar nevertheless
1 Belser in Haupt and Delitzsch, Beitragc zur Assyriologie, ii. 187 scq., col. vi. 1.
THE PANTHEON IN THE DAYS OF HAMMURABI. 159
shows remarkable partiality for Rammarr, perhaps as a matter
of policy to offset the supposed preference shown by Ramman
towards the previous dynasty. Ramman with Nergal and Nana
are also enumerated as the special gods of Namar — a Babylonian
district which caused the king considerable annoyance, and
which may have been one of the strongholds whence the
Cassitic kings continued their attacks upon Nebuchadnezzar.
In order to determine more precisely the nature of this deity,
it is necessary to turn to Assyria, where his worship dates from
the very earliest times, and where he appears consistently in a
single role, — that of the god of storms, more particularly of
thunder and lightning. The oldest Assyrian ruler known to us
is Samsi-Ramman (c. 1850 B.C.), whose name, containing the
god as one of its elements, points to the antiquity of the cult of
Ramman in the north. Another king who has frequently been
mentioned, Ramman-nirari (z>., Ramman is my helper), bears
evidence to the same effect, and Tiglathpileser I. speaks of a
temple to Ramman whose foundation carries us back several
centuries beyond the period of these two kings — almost to
the days of Hammurabi. The theory has accordingly been
advanced that the worship of Ramman came to Babylonia
from the north, and since the cult of this same god is found in
Damascus and extended as far south as the plain of Jezreel,
the further conclusion has been drawn that the god is of
Aramaic origin and was brought to Assyria through Aramaic
tribes who had settled in parts of Assyria. The great an-
tiquity of the Ramman cult in Assyria argues against a foreign
origin. It seems more plausible to regard the Ramman cult as
indigenous to Assyria ; but reverting to a time when the popu-
lation of the north was still in the nomadic state of civilization,
the cult may have been carried to the west by some of the
wandering tribes who afterwards established themselves around
Damascus. Up to a late period Aramaic hordes appear from
time to time in western Assyria ; and in a higher stage of cul-
160 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
ture, contact between Aramaeans and Assyrians was maintained
by commercial intercourse and by warfare. Since the earliest
mention of Ramman's cult is in the city of Ashur, it may be
that he was originally connected with that place. As already
intimated, he was essentially a storm-god, whose manifestation
was seen in the thunder and lightning, and the god was known
not merely as ' the thunderer,' but also as Barku, i.e., lightning.
Perhaps it was because of this that he was also brought into
association with the great light of heaven, — the sun-god. In
many mythologies, the sun and lightning are regarded as
correlated forces. At all events, the frequent association of
Shamash and Ramman cannot have been accidental. This
cfouble nature of Ramman — as a solar deity representing some
particular phase of the sun that escapes us and as a storm-god
— still peers through the inscription above noted from the Cas-
site period where Ramman is called 'the lord of justice,' — an
attribute peculiar to the sun-god ; but in Assyria his role as
the thunder- and storm-god overshadows any other attributes
that he may have had.
There are two aspects to rainstorms in Babylonia. The
flooding of the fields while committing much havoc is essential
to the fertility of the soil. Ramman is therefore the carrier
of blessings to the cities, the one who supplies wells and fields
with water ; but the destructive character of the rain and
thunder and lightning are much more strongly emphasized
than their beneficent aspects. Even though the fields be
flooded, Ramman can cause thorns to grow instead of herbs.
The same ideograph Im that signifies Ramman also means
distress. When the failure of the crops brings in its wake
hunger and desolation, it is the 'god of the clouds,' the 'god
of rain,' the ' god of the overflow,' whose wrath has thus mani-
fested itself. It is he who (as a hymn puts it) ' has eaten
the land.' No wonder that the 'roar' of the god is described
as ' powerful,' and that he is asked to stand at the right side
THE PANTHEON IN THE DA YS OF HAMMURABI. 161
of the petitioner and grant protection. When Ramman lets
his voice resound, misfortune is at hand. It was natural
that he who thus presided over the battle of the elements
should come to be conceived essentially as a god of war to a
people whose chief occupation grew to be conquest. As such
he appears constantly in the inscriptions of Assyrian kings,
and to such a degree as to be a formidable rival, at times, to
the head of the Assyrian pantheon. The final victory of the
Assyrian arms is generally attributed to Ashur alone, but just
before the battle and in the midst of the fray, Ramman's pres-
ence is felt almost as forcibly as that of Ashur. He shares
with the latter the honor of invocations and sacrifices at such
critical moments. In this capacity Ramman is so essentially an
Assyrian god that it will be proper to dwell upon him again in
the following chapter, when the specially Assyrian phases of
the religion we are investigating will be taken up. The consort
of Ramman also, the goddess Shala, will best be treated of in
connection with the Assyrian phases of the Ramman cult.
Of the other gods whose names occur in the inscriptions of
Hammurabi, but little of a special character is to be noted.
The attributes that he gives tfcem do not differ from those that
we come across in the texts of his predecessors. It is sufficient,
therefore, to enumerate them. The longest list is furnished by
the hymn which has already been referred to. The text is unfor-
tunately fragmentary, and so we cannot be sure that the names
embrace the entire pantheon worshipped by him. The list
opens with Bel (who, as we have seen, is the old Bel of Nippur) ;
then follow Sin, Ninib, Ishtar, Shamash, Ramman. Here the
break in the tablet begins and, when the text again becomes
intelligible, a deity is praised in such extravagant terms that
one is tempted to conclude that Hammurabi has added to an
old hymn a paean to his favorite Marduk.1 To Bel is given
1 The character of this part of the hymn is quite different from that which precedes.
162 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION,
the honor of having granted royal dignity to the king. Sin has
given the king his princely glory ; from Ninib, the king has
received a powerful weapon ; Ishtar fixes the battle array, while
Shamash and Ramman hold themselves at the service of the
king. With this list, however, we are far from having exhausted
the pantheon as it had developed in the days of Hammurabi.
From the inscriptions of his successors we are permitted to add
the following : Nin-khar-sag, Nergal, and Lugal-mit-tu, furnished
by Samsu-iluna ; Shukamuna, by Agumkakrimi ; and passing
down to the period of the Cassite dynasty, we have in addition
Nm-dim-su, Ba-kad, Pap-u, Belit-ekalli, Shumalia.1
During the Cassitic rule, Marduk does not play the pro-
minent part that he did under the native rulers, but he is
restored to his position by Nebuchadnezzar I., who, it will be
recalled, succeeds in driving the Cassites out of power. But
besides Marduk, Nebuchadnezzar invokes a large number of
other deities. For purposes of comparison with the pantheon
of Hammurabi, and of his immediate successors, I give the
complete list and in the order mentioned by him in the only
inscription that we have of this king. They are Ninib, Gula,
Ramman, Shumalia, Nergal, Shir, Shubu, Sin, Belit of Akkad.
Moreover, Anu is referred to as the especial god of Der, and a
goddess Eria2 is worshipped in Elam. Passing still further
down, we obtain as additional names, Malik and Bunene, from
the inscription of Nabubaliddin (c. 883-852 B.C.).3
We may divide this long period from Hammurabi down to
the time that the governors of Babylonia became mere puppets
of the Assyrian rulers into three sections: (i) Hammurabi and
his successors, (2) the Cassite dynasty, (3) the restoration of
native rulers to the throne. A comparison of the names fur-
nished by the inscriptions from these three sections shows that
1 For further notices of these gods, see chapter x. 2 See above, p. 122.
3 One might include in the list also Nin-igi-nangar-bu, Gushgin-banda, Nin-kurra,
Nin-zadim (from Nabubaliddin's inscription), but these are only so many epithets
of Ea or various forms under which the god came to be worshipped. See p. 177.
THE PANTHEON IN THE DA YS OF HAMMURABI. 163
the gods common to all are Marduk, Bel, Shamash, Ramman.
But, in addition, our investigations have shown that we are justi-
fied in adding the following as forming part of the Babylonian
pantheon during this entire period : Sarpanitum, Belit, Tash-
mitum, Sin, Ninib, Ishtar, Nergal, Nin-khar-sag, and the two
other members of the triad, Anu and Ea, with their consorts,
Anatum and Damkina. All these gods and goddesses are found
in the texts from the first and third section of the period, and
the absence of some of them from texts of the second section
is simply due to the smaller amount of material that we have
for the history of the Cassite dynasty in Babylonia. Some of
the deities in this list, which is far from being exhaustive,1 axe
foreign, so e.g., Shukamuna and Shumalia, who belong to the
Cassitic pantheon ; others are of purely local significance, as
Shir and Shubu.2 As for Sin, Ninib, and Ishtar, the worship
of none of these deities assumes any great degree of promi-
nence during this period. No doubt the local cult was con-
tinued at the old centers much as before, but except for an"
occasional invocation, especially in the closing paragraphs of
an inscription, where the writers were fond of grouping a large
array of deities so as to render more impressive the curses upon
enemies and vilifiers, with which the inscriptions usually ter-
minated, they do not figure in the official writings of the time.
Of Sin, it is of some importance to note that under the Cassite
dynasty he stands already at the head of a second class of
triads which consists of Sin, Shamash, and Ramman, or Ishtar
(see note 3 on page 152), and that through the inscription
of Nebuchadnezzar I., we learn of an additional district of
Babylonia, — that of Bit-Khabban, where in association with
Belit of Akkad, the consort of the older Bel, he was worshipped
as the patron deity. Nebuchadnezzar himself does not enu-
1 We may now look forward to finding many more gods in the rich material for
this period unearthed by the University of Pennsylvania Expedition to Niffer.
2 See chapter x.
164 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
merate Sin among the chief gods. Ninib appears in the
familiar role as a god of war. After Hammurabi he is only
mentioned once in inscriptions of the Cassitic period and then
again in the days of Nebuchadnezzar I., who assigns a prom-
inent place to him. It is Ninib who, with the title 'king of
heaven and earth,' leads off in the long list of gods whose
curses are invoked upon the king's opponents. Similarly, the
belligerent character of Ishtar is the only phase of the goddess
dwelt upon during this period. While for Agumkakrimi, she
still occupies a comparatively inferior rank, coming seventh in
his list, Nebuchadnezzar places her immediately after Anu
and before Ramman and Marduk. This advance foreshadows
the superior role that she is destined to play in the pantheon
during the period of Assyrian supremacy. The cult of Nergal
does not figure prominently during this period. In fact, so
far as the historical texts go, he disappears from the scene
till the time of Nebuchadnezzar I., when he is incidentally
"invoked in a group with Ramman and Nana as the gods of a
district in Babylonia known as Namar. Exactly where Namar
lay has not yet been ascertained. Since Nergal, as was shown
in the previous chapter, was the local patron of Cuthah, it may
be that the latter city was included in the Namar district. At
all events, we may conclude from the silence of the texts as to
Nergal, that Cutha played no conspicuous part in the empire
formed of the Babylonian states, and that the cult of Nergal,
apart from the association of the deity in religious texts with the
lower world, did not during this entire period extend beyond
local proportions. Lastly, it is interesting to note that Samsu-
iluna, the son of Hammurabi, refers to Belit of Nippur as Nin-
khar-sag, which we have seen was one of her oldest titles.
CHAPTER IX.
THE GODS IN THE TEMPLE LISTS AND IN THE LEGAL AND
COMMERCIAL DOCUMENTS.
BESIDES the historical texts in the proper sense, there is an-
other source for the study of the Babylonian pantheon.
Both for the first and for the second periods we now have a
large number of lists of offerings made to the temples of Baby-
lonia and of thousands of miscellaneous legal documents. De
Sarzec found a number of such documents at Telloh some
years ago, and quite recently some thirty thousand tablets of
the temple archives have come to light.1 At Tell-Sifr, Abu-
Habba, and elsewhere, many thousands also have been found,
belonging chiefly to the second period. A feature of these
documents is the invocation of the gods, introduced for various
purposes, at times in connection with oaths, at times as a
guarantee against the renewal of claims. Again, certain gods
are appealed to as witnesses to an act, and in the lists of
temple offerings, gods are constantly introduced. Since many
of the commercial transactions recorded in these documents,
moreover, concern the temples of Babylonia, further occasions
were found for the mention of a god or gods. The proper
names occurring in these documents, compounded as these
names in most cases are with some deity,2 furnish some
1 The Berlin Museum and Columbia College have secured a large proportion of
these through purchase. The remainder are still in the market.
2 The longer names consist of three elements : subject, verb, and object. The
deity is generally the subject ; e.g., Sinacherib = Sin-akhe-irba, i.e., may the god Sin
increase the brothers. But there are many variations. So the imperative of the
verb is often used, and in that case, the deity is in the vocative case. Instead of three
elements, there are frequently only two, a deity and a participle or an adjective ; e.g.,
166 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
additions to the pantheon of Babylonia. Naturally, a dis-
tinction is to be made between deities introduced in temple
lists and in the course of legal proceedings, and such as are
merely known through forming an element in proper names.
The former constitute a part of what might be called the
' active ' pantheon of the time. Deities that are actually invoked
by contracting parties for whatever purpose are such as are
endowed with real significance ; and if any of these are not
mentioned in the historical texts proper, the omission is due to
the lack of material. The testimony of the legal documents in
this respect is fully as valid as is that of the historical texts.
In proper names the case is different. Custom being a promi-
nent, if not a controlling, factor in the giving of names, it may
happen that the deity appearing as an element in a name is one
who, for various reasons, is no longer worshipped, or whose
worship has diminished in significance at the time we meet
with the name. Again, deities of very restricted local fame,
deities that occupy the inferior rank of mere spirits or demons
in the theological system of the Babylonians, may still be incor-
porated in proper names. Lastly, in view of the descriptive
epithets by which some deities are often known, as much as by
their real names, it frequently happens in the case of proper
names that a deity otherwise known is designated by one of
his attributes. Thus we find in legal documents of the second
period a goddess, Da-mu-gal, who is none other than the well-
known Gula, the great healing deity; Ud-zal, who is identical
with Ninib, and so written as the god of 'the rising sun' ;* and
Mar-tu (lit., 'the west god'), which is a designation of Ramman.2
Sin-magir, i.e., Sin is favorable, or a person is called ' the son ' or ' the servant ' of
a god. The name of the deity alone may also constitute a proper name ; and many
names of course do not contain the mention of a deity at all, though such names are
often abbreviations from longer ones in which some god was introduced.
1 Jensen, fCosmologie, p. 458.
2 Arnold, Ancient Babylonian Temple Records, p. 5, is of the opinion that Id-nik-
mar-tu is also a designation of Ramman. His view is plausible, but it still remains to
be proved.
THE GODS IN TI1K TKMPLE LISTS. .167
Bearing in mind all these considerations, we find in the
tablets of the first period, so far as published,1 the same
deities that are met with in the historical inscriptions : En-lil,
Bau, En-zu (or Sin), Nin-girsu, Nin-gish-zida, Nin-mar, Nana,
Nina, Shul-pa-uddu, and others. No doubt a complete publica-
tion of the Telloh archives will furnish some — not many — new
deities not occurring in the historical texts of this period. A
rather curious feature, illustrated by these temple archives, and
one upon which we shall have occasion to dwell, is the divine
honors that appear to have been paid towards the end of the first
period of Babylonian history to some of the earlier rulers, notably
Gudea and Dungi.2 Alongside of wine, oil, wheat, sheep, etc.,
offered to Bau, Nin-gish-zida, and Shul-pa-uddu, the great kings
and/<7/mV of the past are honored. More than this, sanctuaries
sacred to these rulers are erected, and in other respects they are
placed on a footing of equality with the great gods of the period.
Passing on to the lists and the legal documents of the second
period,8 we may note that the gods in whose name the oath is
taken are chiefly Marduk, Shamash,4 A, Ramman, and Sin. Gen-
erally two or three are mentioned, and often the name of the
reigning king is added to lend further solemnity to the oath.
Other gods directly introduced are Nana, Ishtar, Nebo, Tash-
mitum, and Sarpanitum, after whom the years are at times
designated, probably in consequence of some special honors
accorded to the gods. The standing phrase is ' the year of the
throne,' or simply 'the year' of such and such a deity. Nin-mar
1 Scheil, " Le Culte de Gndea sous le IIe Dynastie d'Ur " (Recueil des Travaux,etc.
xviii. 64-74). W. R. Arnold, Ancient Babylonian Temple Records (New York, 1896).
The Telloh tablets appear to be largely lists of offerings made to the temples at
Lagash. More extensive publications may soon be looked for.
2 See besides Scheil's article (above), Lehmann's note, Zeits.fiir Assyr. x. 381.
8 Our knowledge of the documents of this period is due chiefly to Strassmaier and
Meissner.
4 At times under rather curious forms, e.g., Shush-sha ; Strassmaier, Warka, no. 30,
1. 21. The form Sha-ash-sha also occurs in nos. 43 and 105 (cf. Meissner's note,
Bcitrage zum Altbabylonischcn Privatrccht, p. 156).
168 . BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
appears in the days of Hammurabi as the daughter of Marduk.
Among gods appearing for the first time are Khusha,1 Nun-gal,
and Zamama. Mentioned in connection with the gates of the
temple where the judges held court, the association of Khusha
with Marduk, Shamash, Sin, and Nin-mar points to a consider-
able degree of prominence enjoyed by this deity. Of his nature
and origin, however, we know nothing. Nun-gal signifies the
'great chief.' His temple stood in Sippar,2 and from this we
may conclude that he was one of the minor gods of the place
whose original significance becomes obscured by the side of
the all-powerful patron of Sippar — the sun-god. A syllabary
describes the god as a ' raging ' deity, a description that sug-
gests solar functions. Nun-gal appears, therefore, to be the
ideograph proper to a deity that symbolized, like Nergal, Ninib,
and A, some phase of the sun. The disappearance of the
god would thus be naturally accounted for, in view of the tend-
ency that we have found characteristic of the religion, whereby
powerful gods absorb the functions of weaker ones whose
attributes resemble their own. But while the god disappears,
the name survives. Nun-gal with the plural sign attached
becomes a collective designation for a group of powerful
demons.3 In this survival and use of the name we have an
interesting example of the manner in which, by a species of dif-
ferentiation, local gods, unable to maintain themselves by the
side of more powerful rivals, sink to the lower grade of demons,
either beneficent or noxious. In this grade, too, distinctions
are made, as will be pointed out at the proper place. There is
a ' pantheon ' of demons as well as of gods in the Babylonian
theology. Nun-gal accordingly recovers some of his lost dig-
nity by becoming an exceptionally powerful demon — so power-
ful as to confer his name upon an entire class. The god Zamama
appears in connection with a date attached to a legal document
1 Meissner, no. 42. Also in a proper name, Khusha-ilu, /'.., 'the lady.'
In the case of such a deity as Zamama, it is evident that the
absence of the name in historical texts is accidental, and that
we may expect to come across it with the increase of historical
material. In the proper names, all of the prominent deities
discussed in this and the previous chapters are found, though
with some notable exceptions. Anu, e.g., is not met with as an
element in proper names, but among those occurring may be
mentioned Shamash, A, Ishtar, Ramman (also under the forms
Im-me-ru and Mar-tu), Marduk, sometimes called Sag-ila after
his temple in Babylon, Nabu, Ishum, Shala, Bau, Nin-ib, Nin-
gir-su, Sin, Bunene, Annuit, and Ea. Among gods appearing
for the first time in connection with the names, it is sufficient
to record a goddess Shubula, who from other sources l we know
was the local patron of the city Shumdula, a goddess Bashtum,2
a goddess Mamu (a form of Gula), Am-na-na, Lugal-ki-mu-na,
1 II R. 60, i8a Pinches (Journal Victoria Institute, xxviii. 36, reads Shu-gid-la;
Hommel, ib. 36, Shu-sil-la).
2 For this deity, see a paper by the writer, " The Element Bosheth in Hebrew Proper
Names," in \\\Q Journal of Bibl. Liter, xiii. 20-30.
170 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
E-la-li (perhaps an epithet for the fire-god Gibil), Ul-mash-shi-
tum, and a serpent god Sir. Most of these may be safely
put down as of purely local origin and jurisdiction, and it is
hardly likely that any of them embody an idea not already
covered by those which we have discussed. From the lists of
gods prepared by the Babylonian scholars, it is clear that the
number of local deities whose names at least survived to a late
period was exceedingly large, ranging in the thousands; and
since, as seems likely, these lists were prepared (as so much of
the lexicographical literature) on the basis of the temple lists
and of the commercial and legal documents, we may conclude
that all, or at any rate most, of these deities were in use as
elements in proper names, without, however, having much
importance beyond this incorporation.
CHAPTER X.
THE MINOR GODS IN THE PERIOD OF HAMMURABI.
COMING back now to the historical texts and placing the
minor deities together that occur in the inscriptions of Ham-
murabi and his successors down through the restoration of
native rulers on the throne of Babylonia, we obtain the follow-
ing list : Zakar, Lugal-mit-tu (?), Nin-dim-su, Ba-kad, Pap-u,
Belit-ekalli, Shumalia, Shukamuna, Gula, Shir, Shubu, Belit of
Akkad, Malik, Bunene, Nin-igi-nangar-bu, Gushgin-banda, Nin-
kurra, Nin-zadim. In view of the limited amount of historical
material at our disposal for the second period of Babylonian
history, the list of course does not permit us to form a definite
notion of the total number of minor gods that were still occa-
sionally invoked by the side of the great gods. By comparison,
however, with the pantheon so far as ascertained of the first
period, the conclusion is justified that with the systematization
of cults and beliefs characteristic of the Hammurabi, a marked
tendency appears towards a reduction of the pantheon, a weed-
ing out of the numerous local cults, their absorption by the
larger ones, and the relegation of the minor gods of only local
significance to a place among the spirits and demons of the
Babylonian religion. Brief statements of these minor gods
will suffice to indicate their general character. Of most of
the gods in this list there is but little we know as yet beyond
the name. Some of them will occur again in the Assyrian
and Neo-Babylonian historical texts, others in the hymns
and incantations; some are only found in the period we are
considering, though with the material constantly increasing
we must beware of drawing any conclusions from the fact of a
172 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
single mention. ' Zakar,' signifying, probably, * heroic,' appears
to have been worshipped in Nippur, where a wall known as the
'wall of Zakar' was built by Samsu-iluna. From the fact that
this wall was sacred to Nin-khar-sag or Belit, we may, perhaps,
be permitted to conclude that f Zakar ' stood in close relation-
ship to Bel and Belit of Nippur, — possibly a son, — or, at all
events, belonged to the inner circle of deities worshipped in
the old city sacred to the great Bel.
Another wall in Nippur was dedicated by this Samsu-iluna
to a god whose name is provisionally read by Winckler, Lugal-
mit-tu.1 Lugal, signifying ' king,' is an element that enters as
an ideograph in the composition of the names of several deities.
Thus we have Lugal-edinna, ' king of the field,' which is the
equivalent of Nergal, and again for the same god, the combina-
tion Lugal-gira, which is, as Jensen2 has shown, 'raging king,'
and a title of Nergal in his character as the god of pestilence
and war. Nin-dim-su, Ba-kad, Pap-u, Belit-ekalli, Shumalia, and
Shukamuna occur at the close of the inscription of Melishikhu,
among the gods asked to curse the transgressors of the royal
decree.3 That some of these are Cassite deities imported into
Babylonia, and whose position in the pantheon was therefore of
a temporary character, there seems little reason to question. Ba-
kad may, and Shumalia quite certainly does, belong to this class.
As for Shukamuna, the fact that Agumkakrimi, who places his
title, ' king of Cassite land,' before that of Akkad and Babylon,
opens his inscription with the declaration that he is the glorious
offspring of Shukamuna, fixes the character of this god beyond
all doubt ; and Delitzschhas shown 4 that this god was regarded
by the Babylonian schoolmen as the equivalent of their own
Nergal. Shukamuna, accordingly, was the Cassite god of
1 The text is defective at the point where the god's name is mentioned. See
Keils Bill. 3, i, p. 133.
2 Kosmologie, pp. 481 seq.
3 Belser, Beitrage zur Assyr. ii. 203. col. vi.
4 Kossaer, pp. 25-27.
MINOR GODS IN THE PERIOD OF HAMMURABI. 173
war, who, like Nergal, symbolized the mid-day sun, — that is,
the raging and destructive power. Shumalia is the consort of
Shukamuna,1 and is invoked as the ' lady of the shining moun-
tains.' Nin-dim-su is a title of Ea, as the patron of arts.
Belit-ekalli — i.e., Belit of the palace — appears as the consort
of Ninib, the epithet ' ekalli ' being added to specify what Belit
is meant, and to avoid confusion with the consort of Bel. At
the same time it must be confessed that the precise force of
the qualification of ' Belit of the palace' (or temple) escapes us.
Ninib's consort, as we know from other sources, was Gula.2
This name is in some way connected with an Assyrian stem
signifying ' great,' and it is at least worthy of note that the
word for palace is written by a species of punning etymology
with two signs, e = house and gallu = large. The question
suggests itself whether the title ' Belit-ekalli ' may not have its
rise in a further desire to play upon the goddess's name, just as
her title Kallat-Eshara (bride of Eshara, or earth) rests upon
such a play. Such plays on names are characteristic of the
Semites, and indeed in a measure are common to all ancient
nations, to whom the name always meant much more than to
us. Every nomen, as constituting the essence of an object, was
always and above all an omen. It is, therefore, plausible to
suppose that titles of the gods should have been chosen in part
under the influence of this idea.3 A further suggestion that
I would like to offer is that * ekallu,' as temple or palace (lit.,
large house), may be one of the numerous names of the nether
world. A parallel would be furnished by Ekur, which signifies
both ' temple ' and ' earth,' 4 and is also one of the names of the
gathering-place of the dead. Gula, being the goddess of the
1 Delitzsch, Kossaer, p. 33.
2 See above, p. 105.
3 Examples of punning etymologies on names of gods are frequent. See Jensen's
discussion of Nergal for examples of various plays upon the name of the god.
Kosmologiet pp. 185 scq.
4 Jensen, Kosmologic, pp. 185 seq. and p. 218.
174 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
nether world who restores the dead to life, would be appropri-
ately called ' the lady of the nether world.' One should like to
know more of Pap-u (the phonetic reading unknown), who is
called the offspring of Eshara, and 'the lord of the boundary.'
Eshara, as Jensen has shown,1 is a poetical name for earth.
The god Ninib, in his capacity as a god of agriculture, is called
the ' product of Eshara.' 2 Pap-u, therefore, must be a god some-
what of the same character — a conclusion which is borne out
by the description given of him as the protector of the bound-
ary. He is probably one of the numerous forms of boundary
gods that are met with among all nations. That we do not
encounter more in Babylonia is due to the decided tendency
that has been noted towards a centralization of power in a
limited number of deities. Instead of gods of boundaries, we
have numerous demons and spirits in the case of the developed
Babylonian religion, into whose hands the care of preserving
the rights of owners to their lands is entrusted. Symbols of
these spirits — serpents, unicorns, scorpions, and the like —
are added on the monuments which were placed at the bound-
aries, and on which the terms were specified that justified
the land tenure. To this class of monuments the name of
' Kudurru,' or ' boundary ' stones, was given by the Babylonians
themselves. The inscription on which the name of Pap-u
occurs belongs to this class ; and he is invoked, as already said,
along with many other gods — in fact, with the whole or a
goodly portion of the pantheon. It would seem, therefore,
that we have in Pap-u a special boundary god who has survived
in that role from a more primitive period of Babylonian culture.
He occupies a place usually assigned to the powerful demons
who are regarded as the real owners of the soil.3
1 Kosmologie, p. 195. 2 Rawlinson, i. 29, 16.
3 This notion that the ground belongs to the gods, and that man is only a tenant,
survives to a late period in Semitic religions. The belief underlies the Pentateuchal
enactments regarding the holding of the soil, which is only to be temporary. See
W. R. Smith, Religion of the Semites, pp. 91 seq.
MINOR GODS IN TUK I'EIUOD OF IIAMML'KAIU. 175
Perhaps the most interesting of the minor deities during this
second period is
GULA.
As has just been stated, she is the consort of Ninib. She
is not mentioned in any of the inscriptions of this period till
we come to the days of Nebuchadnezzar I., who invokes her
as the bride of Eshara, — />., of the earth.1 We also meet
with her name in that of several individuals, Balatsu-Gula a
and Arad-Gula,3 and we have seen that she is also known as
Damit and Mamu, or Meme. We have a proof, therefore, of
her cult being firmly established at an early period of Baby-
lonian history. Her role is that of a ' life-giver,' in the widest
sense of the word. She is called the 'great physician,' who
both preserves the body in health and who removes sickness
and disease by the * touch of her hand.' Gula is the one who
leads the dead to a new life. She shares this power, however,
with her husband Ninib. Her power can be exerted for evil
as well as for good. She is appealed to, to strike the enemy
with blindness ; she can bring on the very diseases that she is
able to heal, and such is the stress laid upon these qualities
that she is even addressed as the ' creator of mankind.' But
although it is the 'second' birth of mankind over which she
presides, she does not belong to the class of deities whose
concern is with the dead rather than the living. The Baby-
lonians, as we shall have occasion to point out, early engaged
in speculations regarding the life after death, and, as a result,
there was developed a special pantheon for the nether world.
Gula occupies a rather unique place intermediate, as it were,
between the gods of the living and the gods of the dead.
1 In Babylonian, Kallat Eshara, with another play upon her name. See above,
P- '73-
2 I.e., [Protect] his life, O Gula.
3 Servant of Gula.
176 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
Of the other deities occurring in the inscription of this same
Nebuchadnezzar I. it is sufficient to note that two, Shir and
Shubu, are enumerated among the gods of Bit-Khabban. They
were, therefore, local deities of some towns that never rose to-
sufficient importance to insure their patrons a permanent place
in the Babylonian pantheon. ' Belit of Akkad,' whom Nebu-
chadnezzar invokes, is none other than the great Belit, the con-
sort of Bel. ' Akkad ' is here used for Babylonia, and the
qualification is added to distinguish her from other * ladies,'
as, e.g., ' Belit-ekalli,' who, we have seen, was Gula.
MALIK AND BUNENE.
Upon reaching so late a period as the days of Nabubaliddin
(c. 850 B.C.), it becomes doubtful whether we are justified in
including the additional deities occurring in his inscription
among the Babylonian pantheon of the second period. The
occurrence of some of these gods in the religious literature is
a presumption in favor of regarding them as ancient creations,
rather than due to later influences. Certainly this appears to
be the case with Malik and Bunene, who, with Shamash, form
a triad that constitutes the chief object of worship in the great
temple E-babbara at Sippar, to whose restored cult Nabu-bal-
iddin devotes himself. Both names, moreover, occur as parts
of proper names in the age of Hammurabi. Malik — i.e., ruler
— is one of the names frequently assigned to Shamash, just as
the god's consort was known as Malkatu, but for all that Malik
is not the same as Shamash. Accompanying the inscription of
Nabubaliddin is a design 1 representing the sun-god seated in
his shrine. Before him on a table rests a wheel, and attached
to the wheel are cords held by two figures, who are evidently
directing the course of the wheel. These two figures are Malik
1 See VR. pi. 60.
MINOR GODS IN THE PERIOD OF HAMMURABI. 177
and Bunene, a species of attendants, therefore, on the sun-god,
who drive the fiery chariot that symbolized the great orb.
Bunene, through association with Malik, becomes the latter's
consort, and it is interesting to observe the extent to which the
tendency of the Babylonian religion to conceive the gods in
pairs goes. Bunene is not the only instance of an originally
male deity becoming through various circumstances the female
consort to another. Originally, Malik may have been a name
under whibh the sun-god was worshipped at some place, for
the conception that makes him the chariot-driver to Shamash
appears to be late. The absorption by the greater sun-cults
(at Sippar and Larsa more particularly) of the lesser ones leads
to the complete transfer of the names of minor sun-deities to
the great Shamash, but in some instances the minor deities
continue to lead a shadowy existence in some role of service to
the greater ones.
NlN-IGI-NANGAR-BU, GUSHGIN-BANDA, NlN-KURRA, AND NlN-
ZADIM.
We have seen that Ea, among other powers assigned to him,
was regarded as the god of fine arts, — in the first instance as
the god of the smithy, because of the antiquity and importance
of the smith's art, and then of art in general, including
especially the production of great statues. In accordance with
this conception, Nabubaliddin declares that it was through the
wisdom of Ea that he succeeded in manufacturing the great
image of Shamash that was set up by him in the temple at
Sippar. But in the days of Nabubaliddin the arts had been
differentiated into various branches, and this differentiation
was expressed by assigning to each branch some patron god
who presided over that section. In this way, the old belief
that art comes to men from the gods survived, while at the
178 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
same time it entered upon new phases.1 Accordingly, Nabu-
baliddin assigns several deities who act the part of assistants
to Ea. The names of these deities point to their functions.
Nin-igi-nangar-bu is the * lord who presides over metal-workers ' ;
Gushgin-banda, ' brilliant chief,' is evidently the patron of those
skilled in the working of the bright metals; Nin-kurra, 'lord
of mountain,' the patron of those that quarried the stones ;
while Nin-zadim is the patron of sculpture. Ea stands above
these as a general overseer, but the four classes of laborers
symbolized by gods indicate the manner of artistic construction
in the advanced state of Babylonian art, and of the various
distinct professions to which this art gave birth. In a certain
sense, of course, these four gods associated with Ea belong to
the Babylonian pantheon, but not in the same sense in which
Ea, for example, or the other gods discussed in this chapter,
belong to it. They cannot even be said to be gods of a minor
order — they are hardly anything more than personifications of
certain phenomena that have their source in the human intel-
lect. In giving to these personified powers the determinative
indicative of deity, the Babylonian schoolmen were not conscious
of expressing anything more than their belief in the divine
origin of the power and skill exercised by man. To represent
such power as a god was the only way in which the personifi-
cation could at all be effected under the conditions presented
by Babylonian beliefs. When, therefore, we meet with such
gods as Nin-zadim, ' lord of sculpture,' it is much the same as
when in the Old Testament we are told that Tubal-cain was
the * father ' of those that work in metals, and where similarly
other arts are traced back to a single source. ' Father ' in
Oriental hyperbole signifies ' source, originator, possessor, or
patron,' and, indeed, includes all these ideas. The Hebrew
writer, rising to a higher level of belief, conceives the arts to
1 To this day in the Orient, fine productions of man's skill are attributed to the
influence of hidden spirits, good or bad, as the case may be.
MINOR GODS IN THE PERIOD OF HAMMURABI. 179
have originated through some single personage endowed with
divine powers ; l the Babylonian, incapable as yet of making
this distinction, ascribes both the origin and execution of the
art directly to a god. In this way, new deities were apparently
created even at an advanced stage of the Babylonian religion,
but deities that differed totally from those that are character-
istic of the earlier periods. The differentiation of the arts,
and the assignment of a patron to each branch, reflect the
thoughts and the aspirations of a later age. These views
must have arisen under an impulse to artistic creation that was
called forth by unusual circumstances, and I venture to think
that this impulse is to be traced to the influence of the Assyrian
rulers, whose greatest ambition, next to military glory, was to
leave behind them artistic monuments of themselves that might
unfold to later ages a tale of greatness and of power. Sculp-
ture and works in metal were two arts that flourished in a
special degree in the days when Assyria was approaching the
zenith of her glory. Nabubaliddin's reign falls within this
period ; and we must, therefore, look from this time on for
traces of Assyrian influence in the culture, the art, and also
to some extent in the religious beliefs of the southern district
of Mesopotamia.
1 This position does not, of course, exclude the fact that in the original form of
the tradition, Tubal-cain, Naamah, and other personages in the fourth chapter of
Genesis were deities.
CHAPTER XI.
SURVIVALS OF ANIMISM IN THE BABYLONIAN RELIGION.
THE Assyrian influence however was only one factor, and a
minor factor at that, in maintaining the belief in countless
spirits that occupied a place of more or less importance by
the side of the great and lesser gods. That conservatism
which is a distinguishing trait of the popular forms of religion
everywhere, served to keep alive the view that all the acts
of man, his moods,, the accidents that befell him, were under
the control of visible or invisible powers. The development
of a pantheon, graded and more or less regulated under
the guidance of the Babylonian schoolmen, did not drive the
old animistic views out of existence. In the religious litera-
ture, and more especially in those parts of it which reflect
the popular forms of thought, the unorganized mass of spirits
maintain an undisputed sway. In the incantation texts, which
will be discussed at length in a subsequent chapter, as well as
in other sections of Babylonian literature embodying both the
primitive and the advanced views of the Babylonians regarding
the origin of the universe, its subdivisions, and its order of
development, and, thirdly, in the legends and epics, hundreds
of spirits are introduced, to which some definite function or func-
tions were assigned. In many, indeed in the majority of cases,
the precise character of these functions still escapes us. The
material at our disposal is as yet inadequate for any satisfactory
treatment of this phase of Babylonian belief, and we must con-
tent ourselves for the present with some generalizations, or at
the most with some broad classifications. Besides the texts
themselves, we have proper names containing a spirit as an ele-
ment, and also lists of those spirits prepared by the schoolmen
ANIMJSM IN Till'. BABYLONIAN RELIGION. 181
on the basis of the texts. When, as sometimes happens, these
lists contain explanatory comments on the spirits enumerated,
we are able to take some steps forward in our knowledge of the
subject.
In the first place, then, it is important to bear in mind that
the numerous spirits, when introduced into the religious and
other texts, are almost invariably preceded by a sign — techni-
cally known as a determinative — which stamps them as divine.
This sign being the same as the one placed before the
names of the gods, it is not always possible to distinguish
between deities and spirits. The use of a common sign is
significant as pointing to the common origin of the two classes
of superior powers that thus continue to exist side by side. A
god is naught but a spirit writ large. As already intimated in
a previous chapter, a large part of the development of the Baby-
lonian region consists in the differentiation between the gods
and the spirits, — a process that, beginning before the period
of written records, steadily went on, and in a certain sense was
never completed. In the historical texts, the gods alone, with
certain exceptions, find official recognition, and it is largely
through these texts that we are enabled to distinguish between
the two classes of powers, the gods and the spirits ; but as a
survival of a primitive animism, the demons, good, bad, and
indifferent, retain their place in the popular forms of religion.
Several hundred spirits occur in the incantation texts, and almost
as many more in other religious texts. We may distinguish sev-
eral classes. In the first place, there are the demons that cause
disease and all manner of physical annoyances. The chief of
these will be considered when we come to the analysis of the
incantation texts. Against these demons the sufferer seeks
protection by means of formulas, the utterance of which is
invested with peculiar power, and again by means of certain
rites of an expiatory or purificatory character. Next, we have
the demons supposed to inhabit the fields, and to whom
182 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
the ground is supposed to belong. These were imaged under
various animal forms, serpents and scorpions being the favor-
ite ones. When possession was taken of the field, the spirits
inhabiting it had to be propitiated. The owner placed himself
under their protection, and endeavored to insure his rights
against wrongful encroachment by calling upon the demons to
range themselves on his side. It was customary, especially in
the case of territory acquired by special grant of the monarch,
or under extraordinary circumstances, to set up a so-called
boundary stone,1 on which the owner of the field detailed his
right to possession, through purchase or gift, as the case may
be. This inscription closed with an appeal to various gods to
strike with their curses any intruder upon the owner's rights.
Iri addition to this, the stones are embellished with serpents,
scorpions, unicorns, and various realistic or fantastic represen-
tations of animal forms. These, it would seem, symbolize the
spirits, the sight of which, it was hoped, might act as a further and
effectual warning against interference with the owner's rights.2
A special class of demons is formed by those which were
supposed to infest the resting-places of the dead, though they
stand in a certain relationship to the demons that plague the
living. A remarkable monument found a number of years ago,
1 The technical name for this class of monuments was Kudurru. z.e., mark, and
then used like the German word Mark both for boundary and for . the territory
included within the bounds. A notable contribution to the interpretation of the
Kudurru monuments was made by Belser, in the Beitr'dge zur Assyriologie, ii.
111-203.
2 The question has been raised (see Belser, ib. p. in) by Pinches whether these
representations are not the symbols of the zodiac, but, as Belser justly remarks, the
attempt to interpret the pictures in this way has not been successful. It still
seems most plausible to regard the pictures as symbols of spirits or demons. Such
an interpretation is in accord with the Babylonian and general Semitic view of land
ownership. At the same time, it must be confessed that we are still in the dark as to
the motives underlying the choice of the animals portrayed. There may be some
ultimate connection with some of the signs of the zodiac, — so Hommel believes, — but
such connection would have to be judged from the earlier forms that animism takes
on, and not in the light of an advanced theology such as appears in the zodiacal
system of the Babylonians.
ANIMISM IN THE BABYLONIAN RELIGION. 183
and which will be fully described in a subsequent chapter,
affords us a picture of some of these demons whose sphere of
action is more particularly in the subterranean cave that forms
the gathering-place of the dead. They are represented as half
human, half animal, with large grotesque and terror-inspiring
features.1 Their power, however, is limited. They are subject
to the orders of the gods whose dominion is the lower world,
more particularly to Nergal and his consort Allatu. In the
advanced eschatology of the Babylonians the demons play a
minor part. It is with the gods that the dead man must make
his peace. Their protection assured, he has little to fear ; but
the demons of the lower world frequently ascend to the upper
regions to afflict the living. Against them precautions must be
taken similar to the means employed for ridding one's self of
the baneful influence of the disease- and pain-bringing spirits.
Reference has already been made to the spirits that belong to
the higher phases of Mesopotamian culture, — those that have
a share in the production of works of skill and art. We have
seen that in accounting for these we are justified in assuming a
higher phase of religious belief. The dividing line between god
and spirit becomes faint, and the numerous protecting patrons
of the handicrafts that flourished in Babylonia and Assyria can
hardly be placed in the same category with those we have so
far been considering. Still, to the popular mind the achieve-
ments of the human mind were regarded as due to the workings
of hidden forces. Strange as it may seem, there was an indis-
position to ascribe everything to the power of the gods. Ea
and Nabu, although the general gods of wisdom, did not con-
cern themselves with details. These were left to the secondary
powers, — the spirits. Hence it happens that by the side of the
great gods, we have a large number of minor powers who pre-
side over the various branches of human handiwork and con-
trol the products of the human mind.
1 See Perrot and Chipiez, History of Art in CJialdaca and Assyria, \. 351.
184 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
Reserving further details regarding the several classes of
demons and spirits enumerated, it will suffice to say a few
words about one particular group of spirits whose role was
peculiarly prominent in both historical, liturgical, and general
religious texts. The tendency to systematize the beliefs in
spirits manifests itself in Babylonia, equally with the grouping
of the gods into certain classes. In consequence of this general
tendency, the conception arose of a group of spirits that com-
prised the associated secondary powers of earth and heaven,
somewhat as Anu, Bel, and Ea summed up the quintessence of
the higher powers or gods. This group was known as the
ANUNNAKI AND IGIGI.
Regarding these names it may be said that the former has
not yet been satisfactorily interpreted. On the assumption
that the union of the syllables A-nun-na-ki1 represents a com-
pound ideograph, the middle syllable nun signifies ' strength,'
whereas the first is the ordinary ideograph for * water.' Hom-
mel 2 proposed to interpret the name therefore as ' gods of the
watery habitation.' The artificiality of this manner of writing
points, as in several instances noted, to a mere ' play ' upon
the real name. Anunna reminds one forcibly of the god Anu
and of the goddess Anunit, and the element ak is quite a
common afformative in Babylonian substantives, conveying a
certain emphatic meaning to the word. If therefore we may
compare Anun with the name of the god of heaven, the name
Anunnak embodying, as it does in this case, the idea of power,
would be an appropriate designation for the spirits, or a group
of spirits collectively. Be it understood that this explanation
is offered merely as a conjecture, which, however, finds sup-
port in the meaning attached to the term ' Igigi.' This, as
1 The element ki is sometimes omitted. The force of na is not clear, unless it be
a phonetic complement merely.
2 Semitische Volkcr. p. 369.
ANIMISM IN THE BABYLONIAN RELIGION. 185
Halevy and Guyard have recognized, is a formation of a
well-known stem occurring in Babylonian, as well as in other
Semitic languages, that has the meaning ' strong.' The ideo-
graphic form of writing the name likewise designates the spirits
as * the great chiefs.' The * Igigi,' therefore, are ' the strong
ones,' and strength being the attribute most commonly assigned
to the Semitic deities,1 there is a presumption, at least, in favor
of interpreting Anunnak, or Anunnaki,2 in the same way. The
'Igigi' are at times designated as the seven gods, but this
number is simply an indication of their constituting a large
group. Seven is a round number which marked a large quan-
tity. At an earlier period five represented a numerical magni-
tude, and hence the Anunnaki are at times regarded as a group
of five.3 The Anunnaki and Igigi appear for the first time
in an historical text in the inscription of the Assyrian king
Rammannirari I., who includes them in his appeal to the
great gods. He designates the Igigi as belonging to heaven,
the Anunnaki as belonging to the earth. The manner in
which he uses the names shows conclusively that, at this early
period, the two groups comprehended the entire domain over
which spirits, and for that matter also the gods, exercised their
power. Indeed, it would appear that at one time the two
names were used to include the gods as well as the spirits.
At least this appears to be the case in Assyria, and the conclu-
sion may be drawn, from the somewhat vague use of the terms,
that the names belong to a very early period of the religion,
when the distinction between gods and spirits was not yet
1 Very many of the names of the Semitic gods and heroes signify strong, e.g., £/,
Adon, Baal, Etana, Kcmosh, etc.
2 The final vowel / would, on the basis of the explanation offered, be paralleled by
the i of Igigi — an indication of the plural. See Delitzsch, Assyr. Gram. § 67, i.
3 The Igigi are designated ideographically as v plus ii, and Hommel (Semitische
Volker, p. 491) properly suggests that this peculiar writing points to an earlier use of
five as constituting the group. Hommel, however, does not see that neither five nor
seven are to be interpreted literally, but that both represent a large round number,
and, therefore, also a holy one.
186 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
clearly marked. However that may be, in Babylonian hymns
and incantations the Igigi and Anunnaki play a very prominent
part. Ami is represented as the father of both groups. But
they are also at the service of other gods, notably of Bel, who
is spoken of as their * lord,' of Ninib, of Marduk, of Ishtar, and
of Nergal. They prostrate themselves before these superior
masters, and the latter at times manifest their anger against
the Igigi. They are sent out by the gods to do service. Their
character is, on the whole, severe and cruel. They are not
favorable to man, but rather hostile to him. Their brilliancy
consumes the land. Their power is feared, and Assyrian kings
more particularly are fond of adding the Igigi and Anunnaki to
the higher powers — the gods proper — when they wish to
inspire a fear of their own majesty. At times the Igigi alone
are mentioned, but generally the Igigi and Anunnaki appear in
combination. To the latest period of Babylonian history these
two groups continue to receive official recognition. Nebuchad-
nezzar II.1 dedicates an altar, which he erects at the wall of the
city of Babylon, to the Igigi and Anunnaki. The altar is called
a structure of 'joy and rejoicing,' and on the festival of Marduk,
who is the 'lord of the Anunnaki and Igigi,' sacrifices were
offered at this altar. In the great temple of Marduk there was
a fountain in which the gods and the Anunnaki, according to a
Babylonian hymn, 'bathe their countenance'; and when to this
notice it be added that another hymn praises them as the
' shining chiefs' of the ancient city of Eridu, it will be apparent
that the conceptions attached to this group span the entire
period of Babylonian-Assyrian history.
Besides the Igigi and Anunnaki there is still a third group of
seven spirits, generally designated as the ' evil demons,' who
represent the embodiment of all physical suffering to which
man is subject. They appear, however, only in the incanta-
tion texts, and we may, therefore, postpone their consideration
i IR. 55, col. iv. 11. 7-13.
ANIMISM AV 77/A' HAUYLOX/AX RELIGION. 187
until that subject is reached. The point to be borne in mind,
and which I have attempted to emphasize in this place, is the
close relationship existing in the popular forms of the Baby-
lonian religion between the gods and the spirits. The latter
belong to the pantheon as much as the former. Primitive
animism continues to enchain the minds of the people, despite
the differentiation established between the higher ahd the
secondary powers, and despite the high point of development
reached by the schoolmen in their attempts to systematize and,
in a measure, to purify the ancient beliefs.
CHAPTER XII.
THE ASSYRIAN PANTHEON.
WE have now reached a point where it will be proper to set
forth the phases that the Babylonian religion assumed during
the days of Assyrian supremacy.
An enumeration of the gods occurring in the inscriptions of
the rulers of Assyria from the earliest days to the close of the
empire, so far as published, will show better than any argu-
ment the points of similarity between the Babylonian and the
Assyrian pantheon. These gods are in alphabetical order:1
Anu, Ashur, Bel, Belit, Gaga, Gibil, Gamlat, Gula, Dibbarra,
Dagan, Damkina, Ea, Ishtar, Kadi, Khani, Marduk, Nabu,
Nana, Nin-gal, Nergal, Ninib, Nusku, Ramman, Sin, Shala,
Shalman, Shamash, Shanitka(P), Tashmitum. Of these quite a
number are only mentioned incidentally, and in a manner that
indicates that they do not belong to the pantheon in the strict
sense. Others, like Khani2 and Gamlat, — />., 'the merciful
one,'3 — may turn out to be mere epithets of deities otherwise
known ; and it would hardly be legitimate to extend the list by
including deities that have not yet been identified,4 and which
may similarly be only variant forms, descriptive of such as are
already included. But however much this list may be ex-
tended and modified by further publications and researches,
the historical material at hand for the Assyrian period of the
religion is sufficient to warrant us in setting up two classes
of the pantheon, — one class constituting the active pan-
1 Semitic alphabet.
2 A form of Nebo, according to Meissner-Rost, Bauinschriften Sanherib's, p. 105.
3 See Meissner-Rost, ib. p. 108.
4 As c.g., En-e-in-pal (Meissner-Rost, ib. p. 76), Sherua, and Azag-sir (ib. p. 101).
For further lists of deities, see pp. 234, 238.
7 '///<• ASSYRIAN PANTHEON. 189
theon, the other, deities introduced by the kings merely for
purposes of self-glorification, or to give greater solemnity to
the invocations and warnings that formed a feature of all com-
memorative and dedicatory inscriptions, as well as of the
annals proper. The future additions to the list, it is safe to
assert, will increase the second class and only slightly modify,
if at all, the first class. Bearing in mind this distinction we
may put down as active forces in Assyria the following: Anu,
Ashur, Bel, Belit, Gula, Dagan, Ea, Khani, Ishtar, Marduk,
Nabu, Nergal, Ninib, Nusku, Raminan, Sin, Shala, Shamash,
Tashmitum.
Comparing both the fuller and the restricted list with the
Babylonian pantheon during the two periods treated of in
the preceding chapters, we are struck by three facts : (i)
the smaller compass of the Assyrian pantheon ; (2) the more
restricted introduction of what, for want of a better term, we
may call minor deities ; and (3) the small number of new
deities met with. To take up the latter point, the only gods
in the above list that are not found in Babylonian inscriptions
are Ashur, Gibil, Gamlat, Dibbarra, Kadi, Nusku, Shala, Sha-
nitka. Of these it is purely accidental that Gibil, Dibbarra,
Nusku, and Shala are not mentioned, for, except those that
are foreign importations, they belong to Babylonia as much
as to Assyria and fall within the -periods of the Babylonian
religion that have been treated of. Kadi is a foreign deity.1
Shanitka(P) may only be a title of some goddess, and Shalman
(or Shalmannu) occurs only in proper names, and may like-
wise be only a title of some god.2 There remains, as the
only god peculiar to Assyria, the god Ashur. But for this
god, the Babylonian and the Assyrian pantheon are identical.
1 The Assyrian kings are fond of mentioning foreign deities, and of adding them
to their pantheon. In his annals (VR. col. vi. 11. 30-43) Ashurbanabal gives a list
of twenty Elamitic deities captured by him.
- Tide (Rabyl.-Assyr. Gcschichte, p. 519) suggests Ea.
190 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
When we come, however, to the position held by the gods in
the pantheon, their relationship to one another, and the traits
which secured for them popular and royal favor, the differ-
ences between the Babylonian and the Assyrian phases of the
religion will be found to be more accentuated.
As for the smaller compass of the Assyrian pantheon, we
may recognize in this a further advance of the tendency
already noted in the second period of the Babylonian religion.
There, too, we found the minor local cults yielding to the
growing influence and favor of certain gods associated with
the great centers of Babylonian life, or possessing attributes
that accorded more with the new political order and the
general advance of culture. One of the chief factors in this
tendency towards centralization was, as we saw, the supremacy
accorded to Marduk in the new empire as the patron god of
the capital, and that not only led to his absorbing the role of
other deities,1 but resulted also in strengthening the belief
that there were only a limited number of deities upon whose
power and willingness to aid dependence could be placed.
This tendency was in a measure offset by the pride that the
rulers of the second Babylonian period still took in parading
at times, as large a number as possible of deities under whose
protection they claimed to stand. As we pass from one age to
the other, the number of minor deities thus invoked also tends
to diminish, and the occasions likewise when they are invoked
become limited to the more solemn invocations at the begin-
ning and the close of inscriptions. Now, in Assyria we have
1 An interesting example of this tendency is furnished by a tablet published by
T. G. Finches {Journal of the Victoria Institute, xxviii. 8-10), in which the
name Marduk is treated almost as a generic term for deity. Nergal is called ' the
Marduk of warfare ' ; Nebo, ' the Marduk of earthly possessions ' ; Ninib, ' the Marduk
of strength' ; En-lil, ' the Marduk of sovereignty ' ; and so on, in a long enumeration,
the gods are regarded as so many forms of Marduk. Pinches' conclusion that the
list points to monotheistic beliefs is, however, unwarranted. The list only illustrates
a tendency towards a centralization of divine powers in Marduk, that accompanies
the political centralization of the period.
THE ASSYRIAN PANTHEON. 191
much the same political conditions as in Babylonia, only
intensified. Here, too, we have one god towering above the
others, only to a still greater degree even than Marduk in
Babylonia. Marduk, while absorbing the role of the old Bel,
is still bound to acknowledge the fathership of Ea. For a
time he has to fear the rivalry of Nabu, and we have seen that
during the Cassitic rule, the glory of Marduk is somewhat
dimmed. The god who comes to stand at the head of the
Assyrian pantheon — Ashur — suffers from none of these
restrictions. He is independent of other gods and is under
no obligations to any of his fellows, and his rule once acknowl-
edged remains supreme, with, perhaps, one short period
excepted,1 throughout all the vicissitudes that the empire
undergoes. As a consequence of this unique position, Ashur
is so completely identified with Assyria, that with the fall
of the empire he, too, disappears, — whereas the Marduk cult
survives the loss of Babylonian independence, and is undis-
turbed even by the final absorption of Babylonia into the
empire of Cyrus. The tendency towards centralization of the
cult is even more pronounced, therefore, in Assyria than in
Babylonia. Marduk is a leader who has many gods as fol-
lowers, but all of whom have their distinct functions. Ashur
is a host in himself. He needs no attendants. His aid suf-
fices for all things, and such is the attachment of his subjects
to him that it would almost appear like an insult to his dignity
to attach a long array of minor gods to him. For the Assyrian
kings the same motives did not exist as for the Babylonians
to emphasize their control over all parts of their empire by
adding the chief gods of these districts to the pantheon.
Assyria was never split up into independent states like Baby-
lonia before the days of Hammurabi. The capital, it is true,
changed with considerable frequency, but there was always
only one great center of political power. So far as Assyrian
1 See below, pp. 228, 229.
192 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION,
control over Babylonia was concerned, it was sufficient for the
purposes of the Assyrian rulers to claim Marduk as their patron
and protector, and, as we shall see, they always made a point
of emphasizing this claim. Hence we have only 'great gods,' l
and no minor deities, in the train of Ashur. These ' great
gods ' could not be expunged from the pantheon without a
complete severance of the ties that bound the Assyrians to
their past. Kings of great empires seldom favor religious
revolutions. But by the side of Ashur these great gods pale,
and in the course of time the tendency becomes more marked
to regard them merely as formal members of a little court with
few functions of their own, beyond that of adding by their
presence to the majesty and glory of Ashur. One receives the
impression that in Assyria only a few of the gods invoked by
the kings at the side of Ashur exert any real influence on the
lives of the people ; and such as do, gain favor through pos-
sessing in some measure the chief attribute that distinguished
Ashur, — prowess in war. They are little Ashurs, as it were,
by the side of the great one. The position of Ashur in the
Assyrian pantheon accounts for the general tendencies mani-
fested by the religion of the northern empire, and upon a clear
conception of the character of Ashur depends our understand-
ing of the special points that distinguish the other gods from
what we have learned of their character and traits in the south-
ern states. The beginning, therefore, of an account of the
Assyrian pantheon is properly to be made with Ashur.
ASHUR.
The starting-point of the career of Ashur is the city of
Ashur, situated on the west bank of the Tigris, not far from
the point where the lower Zab flows into the Tigris. Ashur is
1 So the gods of the Assyrian pantheon are generally termed in the inscriptions of
the kings.
THE ASSYRIAN PANTHEON. 193
therefore distinctly a local deity, and so far as the testimony of
the texts goes, he was never regarded in early days in any other
light than as the local patron of the city to which he has given
his name. He was never worshipped, so far as can be ascer-
tained, as a manifestation of any of the great powers of nature,
— the sun or the moon ; though, if anything, he was originally a
solar deity.1 Nor was he a symbol of any of the elements, — fire
or water. In this respect he differs from Sin, Shamash, Nusku,2
and Ea, whose worship was localized, without affecting the
07/tf.r/-universal character that these deities possessed. As a
local deity his worship must have been limited to the city over
which he spread his protecting arm ; and if we find the god
afterwards holding jurisdiction over a much larger territory
than the city of Ashur, it is because in the north, as in the
south, a distinct state or empire was simply regarded as the
extension of a city. Ashur became the god of Assyria as
the rulers of the city of Ashur grew in power, — in the same
way that Marduk, upon the union of the Babylonian states
under the supremacy of the city of Babylon, became the god
of all Babylonia. But a difference between the north and
the south is to be noted. Whereas Marduk, although the
god of Babylonia, was worshipped only in the city of Baby-
lon where he was supposed to have his seat, temples to
Ashur existed in various parts of the Assyrian empire. The
god accompanied the kings in their wars, and wherever the
rulers settled, there the god was worshipped. So in the vari-
ous changes of official residences that took place in the course
of Assyrian history from Ashur to Calah, and from Calah
to Nineveh, and from Nineveh to Khorsabad, the god took
part, and his central seat of worship depended upon the place
that the kings chose for their official residence. At the
same time, while the cult in the various temples that in the
course of time were erected in his honor probably continued
1 See below, p. 195. 2 See below, p. 220,
194 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
without interruption, there was always one place — the official
residence — which formed the central spot of worship. There
the god was supposed to dwell for the time being. One
factor, perhaps, that ought to be taken into consideration in
accounting for this movable disposition of the god was that
he was not symbolized exclusively by a statue, as Marduk
and the other great gods were. His chief symbol was a stand-
ard that could be carried from place to place, and indeed was
so made that it could be carried into the thick of the fray,
in order to assure the army of the god's presence. The
standard consisted of a pole surrounded by a disc enclosed
within two wings, while above the disc stood the figure of a
warrior in the act of shooting an arrow.1 The statues of the
gods were deposited in shrines, and after being carried about,
as was done on festive days or other occasions, they would
be replaced in their shrines. The military standard, however,
followed the camp everywhere, and when the kings chose to
fix upon a new place for their military encampment — and
such the official residences of the Assyrian warrior-kings in large
measure were — the standard would repose in the place selected.
How this standard came to be chosen, and when, is another ques-
tion, and one more difficult to answer. It may be that the repre-
sentation of the god by a standard was a consequence of the
fondness that the rulers of Ashur manifested for perpetual war-
fare ; or, in other words, that the god Ashur was represented by
a standard so that he might be carried into the battle and be
moved from place to place. At all events, the two things —
the standard and the warlike character of the subjects of
Ashur — stood in close relationship to one another, and the
further conclusion is justified that when a military standard
came to be chosen as the symbol of Ashur, the god was recog-
1 A description of this symbol occurs in a text of Sennacherib (Meissner-Rost,
Bauinschriften SanheriU's, p. 94). The symbol itself is found on sculptured slabs
and on seal cylinders.
THE ASSYRIAN PANTHEON, 195
nized distinctly as a god of war. The symbols accompanying
the standard are of importance as enabling us to determine
something more regarding the character of Ashur. In the first
place, the fact that it contained a figure may be taken as an
indication that the god was at one time represented by a statue,
— as indeed we know from other evidence,1 — and that the
change of his symbol from a statue to a standard is a result of
the military activity of the Assyrians. The winged disc is so
general a symbol of the sun in the religious system of various
ancient nations 2 that one cannot escape the conclusion that
the symbol must be similarly interpreted in the case before us.
Is it possible, therefore, that in a period lying beyond that
revealed by the oldest inscriptions at our disposal, Ashur was
worshipped as a solar deity ? One is bound to confess that
the evidence does not warrant us in regarding Ashur as any-
thing but the patron of the city of Ashur. Nowhere do we
find any allusion from which we are justified in concluding that
he originally represented some elemental power or phenomenon.
Tiele 3 is of the decided opinion, that Ashur was at his origin a
nature god of some kind, and he goes so far as to suggest,
though with due reserve, the possible identification of Ashur
with Sin. No doubt Tiele is .prompted to this view by the
example of the great god of the south, Marduk, who is origi-
nally a solar deity, and by all the other great gods who represent,
or represented, some power of nature. Analogy, however, is
not a sufficiently reliable guide to settle a question for the
solution of which historical material is lacking. So much,
however, may be said, that if we are to assume that Ashur
personified originally some natural power, the symbol of the
winged disc lends a strong presumption in favor of supposing
1 So Sennacherib still speaks of images of Ashur, and of the great gods erected
by him (Meissner-Rost, Bauinschriften Sanheritfs, p. 94).
2 See Stevenson, " The Feather and the Wing in Mythology," Oriental Studies
of the Phila. Oriental Club, pp. 236-239.
3 Babyl.-Assyr. Geschichtc, p. 533.
196 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
him to have been some phase of the sun. So much, then, for
the general character of Ashur. Before passing on to a speci-
fication of his role and his traits, as revealed by the historical
texts, a word remains to be said as to the etymology and form
of the name. Ashur is the only instance that we have of a
god expressly giving his name to a city, for the name of the
city can only be derived from that of the god, and not vice
versa. The identification of the god with his favorite town
must have been so complete that the town, which probably had
some specific name of its own, became known simply as the
'city of the god Ashur.' From such a designation it is but
a small step to call the city simply, Ashur. The difference
between the god and the city would be indicated by the deter-
minative for deity, which was only attached to the former,
while the latter was written with the determinative attached
to towns. When this city of Ashur extended its bounds until
it became coequal with the domain of Assyria, the name
of the god was transferred to the entire northern district of
Mesopotamia, which, as the country of the god Ashur, was
written with the determinative for country.1 The ideographs
which the Assyrian scribes employed in writing the name of
the god reveal the meaning, they attached to it. He is
described ideographically as the 'good god.' This inter-
pretation accords admirably with the general force of the
verbal stem underlying the name. In both Hebrew and
Assyrian a-sh-r signifies ' to be gracious, to grant blessing, to
cause to prosper.' Ashur, therefore, is the god that blesses
his subjects, and to the latter he would accordingly appear
as the * good god ' par excellence. If the tempting etymology
of our own word 'god,' which connects it with 'good,' be
correct, ' god ' would be almost the perfect equivalent of
Ashur. It is not necessary to conclude, as Tiele does,2
1 For the sake of convenience it is customary to distinguish between Ashur the
god, and the country by writing the latter with a double sh — Ashshur.
2 Geschichte, p. 533.
THE ASSY It I AN PANTHEON. 197
that Ashur, as the ' good one,' is an ethical abstraction, but
certainly a designation of a god as ' a good one' sounds more
like a descriptive epithet than like a name. The supposition
that Ashur was not, therefore, the original name of the god
receives a certain measure of force from this consideration.
Moreover, there are indications that there actually existed
another form of his name, namely, Anshar.1 This form
Anshar would, according to the phonetic laws prevailing in
Assyria, tend to become Ash-shar.2 Ashur — the 'good one'
— would thus turn out to be an epithet of the god, chosen
as a 'play' suggested by Ash-shar, just as we found Gula
called the lady of Ekalli, and again Kallat (bride).3 The
etymology of Anshar is as obscure as that of most of the
ancient gods of Babylonia, — as of Sin, Marduk, Ishtar, and
many more. But before leaving the subject, it will be proper
to call attention to the role that a god Anshar plays in the
Babylonian-Assyrian cosmological system. Anshar and Kishar
are the second pair of deities to be created, the first pair being
Lakhmu and Lakhamn. In the great fight of the gods against
the monster Tiamat, it would appear that, according to one
version at least, Anshar sends Anu, Ea, and finally Bel-Marduk,
in turn to destroy the monster. He appears, therefore, to have
exercised a kind of supremacy over the gods. Assuming the
correctness of the deductions, according to which Ashur is an
epithet arising by a play upon Ash-shar (from an original
Anshar), it is hardly open to doubt that this Anshar is the
same as the one who appears in the cosmology. On the
other hand, it is difficult to suppose that Anshar should have
played so significant a part in Babylonian traditions and yet
find no mention in the text of the rulers of Babylonia. Bearing
in mind what has been said as to the manner in which ancient
1 See Jensen, Zcits. fiir Assyr. \. i- seq. and Delitzsch, Das Babylonische Welt-
schdpfungscpos, p. 94.
2 By the assimilation of the « to the following consonant.
3 See above, pp. 173, 175.
198 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
traditions and myths were remodeled by the schoolmen to con-
form to later ideas, — we have seen how in this process the popu-
larity of Marduk led to his assuming the role originally played by
Bel, — may not the recognition given to Anshar be a conces-
sion, made at the time that Assyria had begun her glorious
career (c. 1400 B.C.), to the chief god of the northern empire?
That such tendencies to glorify Ashur may justly be sought
for in part of the religious literature is proved by a version of
one of the series of tablets giving an account of the crea-
tion, and which assigns to Anshar the work of building Esharra,
— i.e., the earth, — that, according to another version, belongs
to Marduk.1 Evidently, then, just as the Babylonian theolo-
gians sought to glorify Marduk at the expense of Bel, so
Assyrian theologians, or such as stood under Assyrian influ-
ences, did not hesitate to replace Marduk by their own favorite,
Anshar. In the chapter on the * Cosmology ' we will have
occasion to come back to this point. For present purposes it
is sufficient to have shown that the position of Anshar in the
remodeled traditions is an argument in favor of regarding
Anshar as the real, name of the god who stands at the head
of the Assyrian pantheon.
In the oldest Assyrian inscription known to us, the god
Ashur is mentioned. Samsi-Ramman, who does not yet
assume the title of king, but only patesi, — i.e., 'religious
chief,'2 — prides himself upon being 'the builder of the tem-
ple of Ashur.' The phrase does not mean that he founded
the temple, but only that he undertook building operations
in connection with it. The date of this ruler may be fixed
roughly at 1850 B.C., and since the two inscribed bricks
that we have of Samsi-Ramman were found in the ruins
of Kalah-Shergat, — the site of the ancient city of Ashur,—
1 Jensen, Kosmologie, p. 275.
2 The combination of religious supremacy with political power, which character-
izes the social state of ancient Babylonia and Assyria, gives to the title patesi
a double significance. In Babylonia, moreover, it acquires the force of vassal-king.
THE ASSYRIAN PANTHEON. 199
there can, of course, be no doubt that the temple at that
place is referred to.
The rulers of Assyria, even after they assumed the title of
'king' (c. 1500 B.C.), were still fond of calling themselves
the ' priest ' o'f the god Ashur, and frequently gave this title
the preference over others. In the fourteenth century the
temple of Ashur seems to have suffered at the hands of the
Cassites, who attempted to extend their power to the north.
This plan was, however, frustrated by Ramman-nirari I., who
forces the Cassites to retreat, successfully opposes other enemies
of Assyria, and restores the injured parts of Ashur's temple.
From this time on, and for a period of several centuries,
Assyria assumes an aggressive attitude, and as a consequence
the dependency upon the god is more keenly felt than
before. The enemies against whom the kings proceed are
called ' the enemies of Ashur/ the troops of the king are the
troops of Ashur, and the weapons with which they fight are the
weapons of Ashur. It is he who causes the arms of Tiglath-
pileser I. to strike down his foes. The nations cannot endure
the awful sight of the god. His brilliancy — the reference being
no doubt to the shining standard as it was carried into the
fray — inspires on every side a terror that casts all enemies to
the ground. All warfare is carried on in the name of Ashur.
The statement may be taken literally, for an oracle was sought
at critical moments to determine the course that was to be
pursued. The fight itself takes place with the help of the god,
— again to be taken literally, for the god, represented by his
symbol, is present on the battlefield. The victory, accord-
ingly, belongs to the god in the first instance, and only in a
secondary degree to the king. The nations are vanquished by
Ashur, the conquered cities become subject to Ashur, and
when the tribute is brought by the conquered foe, it is to Ashur
that it is offered by the kings. Proud and haughty as the latter
were, and filled with greed for glory and power, they never
200 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
hesitated to humble themselves before their god. They freely
acknowledged that everything they possessed was due to Ashur's
favor. It was he who called them to the throne, who gave
them the sceptre and crown, and who firmly established their
sovereignty. Through Ashur, who gives the king his invincible
weapon, — the mighty bow, — the kingdom is enlarged, until
the kings feel justified in saying of themselves that, by
the nomination of Ashur, they govern the four quarters of the
world. Nay, the rulers go further and declare themselves to
be the offspring of Ashur. It is not likely that they ever desired
such an assertion also to be interpreted literally. The phrase is
rather to be taken as the strongest possible indication of the
attachment they felt for their chief god. Everything that they
possessed coming directly from their god, how could' this be
better expressed than by making the god the source of their
being ? The phrase, at all events, is interesting as showing
that the element of love was not absent in the emotions that
the thought of Ashur aroused in the breasts of his subjects.
The kings cannot find sufficient terms of glorification to bestow
upon Ashur. Tiglathpileser I. calls him * the great lord ruling
the assembly of gods,' and in similar style, Ashurnasirbal
invokes him as 'the great god of all the gods.' For Ram-
man-nirari III., he is the king of the Igigi- — the heavenly host
of spirits. Sargon lovingly addresses him as the father of the
gods. Sennacherib calls him the great mountain or rock, — a
phrase that recalls a Biblical metaphor applied to the deity, —
and Esarhaddon speaks of him as the 'king of gods.' Fre-
quently Ashur is invoked together with other gods. He is
' the guide of the gods.' There is only one instance in
which he does not occupy the first place. Ramman-nirari I.,
to whom reference has above been made, gives Anu the prefer-
ence over Ashur in a list of gods,1 to whom conjointly he
ascribes his victories. We have already had occasion (see
1 The full list is Anu, Ashur, Shamash, Ramnian, and Ishtar.
THE ASSYRIAN PANTHEON. 201
pp. 153-155) to note the antiquity of Anu worship in Assyria,
the foundation of whose temple takes us beyond the period
of Samsi-Ramman. Ashur's importance begins only with the
moment that the rulers of his city enter upon their career
of conquest. Before that, his power and fame were limited
to the city over which he presided. Those gods who in the
south occupied a superior rank were also acknowledged in the
north. The religion of the Assyrians does not acquire traits
that distinguish it from that of Babylonia till the rise of a dis-
tinct Assyrian empire. Here, as in Babylonia, the religious
conceptions, and in a measure the art, are shaped by the course
of political events. Anu, accordingly, takes precedence to
Ashur previous to the supremacy of the city of Ashur. This
superior rank belongs to him as the supreme god of heaven.
Ramman-nirari's reign marks a turning-point in the history
of Assyria. The enemies of Ashur, who had succeeded for
a time in obscuring the god's glory through the humiliation
which his land endured, were driven back, but neither the
people nor the rulers had as yet become conscious of the fact
that it was solely to Ashur that the victory was due. Hence,
other gods are associated with Ashur by Ramman-nirari, and
the old god Anu is accorded his proper rank. After the days
of Ramman-nirari, however, Ashur's precedence over all other
gods is established. Whether associated with Bel or with
Ramman, or with SKamash and Ramman, or with a larger
representation of the pantheon, Ashur is invariably mentioned
first.
From what has been said of the chief trait of Assyrian
history, it follows, as a "matter of course, that the popularity of
Ashur is due to the military successes of the Assyrian armies ;
and it follows, with equal necessity, that Ashur, whatever he
may originally have been, becomes purely a god of war, from
the moment that Assyria enters upon what appeared to be her
special mission. All the titles given to Ashur by the kings may
202 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
be said to follow from his role as the god who presides over the
fortunes of the wars. If he is the * ruler of all the gods,' and
their father, he is so simply by virtue of that same superior
strength which makes him the ' law-giver' for mankind, and not
because of any ancient traditions, nor as an expression of some
nature-myth. He lords it over gods and spirits, but he lords it
solely because of his warlike qualities. Ashur is the giver of
crown and sceptre, and the kings of Assyria are the patesis
of the god, his lieutenants. He is the god that embodies the
spirit of Assyrian history, and as such he is the most charac-
teristic personage of the Assyrian pantheon — in a certain
sense the only characteristic personage. So profound is his
influence that almost all the other gods of the pantheon take
on some of his character. Whenever and wherever possible,
those phases of the god's nature are emphasized which point
to the possession of power over enemies. The gods of the
Assyrian pantheon impress one as diminutive Ashurs by the
side of the big one, and in proportion as they approach nearer
to the character of Ashur himself, is their hold upon the royal
favor strengthened.
ISHTAR.
Second in rank to Ashur during the most glorious part of
Assyrian history stands the great goddess Ishtar. That the
Assyrian Ishtar is identical with the great goddess of the Baby-
lonian pantheon is beyond reasonable doubt. She approaches
closest to Nana, — the Ishtar of Erech; but just as we found the
Babylonian Ishtar appearing under various names and forms,
so there are no less than three Ishtars in Assyria, distinguished
in the texts as Ishtar of Nineveh, Ishtar of Arbela, and Ishtar
who presides over the temple known as Kidmuru and who for
that reason is generally called ' the queen of Kidmuru.' The
seat of the latter was in Nineveh, as was of course also the seat
THE ASSYRIAN PANTHEON. 203
of Ishtar of Nineveh. The third Ishtar had her cult at Arbela,1
a town lying to the east of Calah about midway between the
upper and lower Zab. It is not easy to determine which of
these three Ishtars is the oldest. The Assyrians themselves
'seem to have been aware of the Babylonian origin of Ishtar,
for Tiglathpileser I. is at pains to emphasize that the temple he
builds to Ishtar in his capital is dedicated to the 'Assyrian Ish-
tar.' 2 This being the oldest mention of Ishtar in Assyrian texts,
we are perhaps warranted in concluding that the cult of the
goddess was transferred with the seat of government to Nineveh.
This would not necessarily make Ishtar of Nineveh the oldest
of the three, but accounts for the higher rank that was accorded
to her, as against the other two. Ishtar of Arbela and the
queen of Kidmuru do not make their appearance so far as the
historical texts are concerned till the time of Esarhaddon (68 1,
B.C.) — a comparatively late date. Tiele3 suggests that Arbela
became the seat of a school of prophets in the service of Ishtar.
The curious name of the place, the * four-god ' city, certainly
speaks in favor of supposing Arbela to have been a great reli-
gious center, but until excavations shall have been conducted on
the modern site of the town, the problems connected with the
worship of Ishtar of Arbela cannot be solved. It is quite pos-
sible, if not probable, that the three Ishtars are each of inde-
pendent origin. The f queen of Kidmuru/ indeed, I venture
to think, is the indigenous Ishtar of Nineveh, who is obliged to
yield her place to the so-called * Assyrian Ishtar ' upon the
transfer of the capitol of Assyria to Nineveh, and henceforth
is known by one of her epithets to distinguish her from her
formidable rival. The cult of Ishtar at Arbela is probably, too,
of ancient date ; but special circumstances that escape us appear
1 More precisely Arba-ilu, signifying ' city of the fourfold divinity ' or ' four-god '
city. Cf. the Palestinian form Kiryath-Arba, "four city," — originally perhaps, like-
wise, a city of four gods, rather than four roads or four quarters, as commonly
explained.
2 IR. 14, 1. 86. 3 Babyl.-Assyr. Geschichte, p. 85.
204 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
to have led to a revival of interest in their cults during the
period when Assyria reached the zenith of her power. The im-
portant point for us to bear in mind is that no essential distinc.
tions between these three Ishtars were made by the Assyrians.
Their traits and epithets are similar, and for all practical pur-
poses we have only one Ishtar in the northern empire. Next
to Ashur, or rather by the side of Ashur, Ishtar was invoked
as the great goddess of battle and war. This trait, however,
was not given to her by the Assyrians. Hammurabi views the
goddess in this light,1 and in the Izdubar or Gilgamesh epic,
as already pointed out, she appears at times in the role of a
violent destroyer. The warlike phase of the goddess's nature is
largely accentuated in the Assyrian pantheon and dwelt upon
to the exclusion of that softer and milder side which we have
seen characterized her as ' the mother of mankind.' Her role
as the goddess of war grows in prominence as the Assyrian
rulers proceed in their triumphal careers. Ashurrishishi (c.
1150 B.C.) invokes her simply as the superior goddess, but for
Tiglathpileser I. and from his days on, she is primarily the lady
of war, who arranges the order of battle and encourages her
favorites to fight. She appears in dreams at critical moments,
and whispers words of cheer to King Ashurbanabal. When
danger threatens, it is. to her that the great king spreads
his hands in prayer. She is not merely the goddess of the
kings, but of the people as well.- The latter are instructed to
honor her. No deity approaches her in splendor. As Ashur
rules the Igigi, so Ishtar is declared to be ' mighty over the
Anunnaki.' Her commands are not to be opposed. Her
appearance is that of a being clothed with fiery flames, and
streams of fire are sent down by her upon the enemies of
Ashurbanabal — a description that expresses admirably the
conception formed by the Assyrians of a genuine goddess of
war. Like Ashur, she is given a supreme rank among the
1 See above, p. 83.
THE ASSYRIAN PANTHEON. 205
gods. Shalmaneser II. calls her the first-born of heaven and
earth, and for Tiglathpileser L, she is the first among the gods.
Her milder attributes as the gracious mother of creation, the
giver of plenty, and the hearer of the supplications of the sinner,
so prominent in the religious literature,1 are not dwelt upon in
the historical texts. Still, an element of love also enters into
the relationship with her subjects. Ashurnasirbal (885-860 B.C.)
speaks of her as the lady who ' loves him and his priesthood.'
Sennacherib similarly associates Ishtar with Ashur as the lover
of his priesthood. As a goddess of war she is of course * perfect
in courage,' as Shalmaneser II. declares. Temples are erected
to her in the city of Ashur, in Nineveh and Arbela. Ashur-
banabal distinguishes carefully between the two Ishtars, — the
one of Nineveh and the one of Arbela; and, strange enough,
while terming Nineveh the favorite city of Ishtar, he seems to
give the preference to Ishtar of Arbela. It is to the latter2 that
when hard pressed by the Elamites he addresses his prayer, call-
ing her 'the lady of Arbela' ; and it is this Ishtar who appears
to the royal troops in a dream. The month of Ab — the
fifth month of the Babylonian calendar — is sacred to Ishtar.
Ashurbanabal proceeds to Arbela for the purpose of worship-
ping her during this sacred period. Something must have
occurred during his reign, to bring the goddess of Arbela into
such remarkable prominence, but even Ashurbanabal does not
go so far as to place Ishtar of Arbela before Ishtar of Nineveh,
when enumerating the gods of the pantheon. One point still
remains to be mentioned before passing on. Ashurbanabal
calls Ishtar — he is speaking of Ishtar of Nineveh — the wife
of Bel.3 Now Ishtar never appears in this capacity in the Baby-
1 See above, pp. 83, 84.
2 Cylinder B, col. v. 11. 30 scq. ; elsewhere (Rassam Cylinder, col. ii. 11. 115 scy.)
he prays to Ashur and Ishtar.
3 Rassam Cylinder, col. viii. 1. 92. Elsewhere, Cylinder B, col. v. 17, Ishtar is
called the daughter of Bel. This, however, must be an error; either Sin must be read
for Bel, or kh'trat (consort) for mar at (daughter).
206 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
Ionian inscriptions. If there is one goddess with whom she
has nothing in common, it is Belit of Nippur. To account
for this curious statement on the part of the Assyrian scribes,
it is only necessary to bear in mind that the name Belit signifies
' lady,' and Ishtar is constantly spoken of as the Belit or lady
of battle. Much the same train of thought that led to regard-
ing Bel in the sense of * lord,' merely as a title of Marduk, gave
rise to the use of ' Belit,' as the title of the great * lady ' of the
Assyrian pantheon.1 From this it is but a small — but of course
erroneous — step, to speak of Belit-Ishtar as the consort of Bel.
Whether the error is due only to the scribe, or whether it actu-
ally made its way into the Assyrian system of theology, it is
difficult to say. Probably the former; for the distinguishing
feature of both the Babylonian and the Assyrian Ishtar is her
independent position. Though at times brought into close
association with Ashur, she is not regarded as the mere consort
of any god — no mere reflection of a male deity, but ruling in
her own right on a perfect par with the great gods of the pan-
theon. She is coequal in rank and dignity with Ashur. Her
name becomes synonymous for goddess, as Marduk becomes
the synonym for god. The female deities both native and
foreign come to be regarded as so many forms of Ishtar. In
a certain sense Ishtar is the only real goddess of the later
Assyrian pantheon, the only one taking an active part in the
religious and political life of the people. At the same time it
is to be noted that by the side of the Assyrian Ishtar, the
Babylonian Ishtar, especially the one associated with Erech
(or Warka) is also worshipped by the monarchs of the north.
Esarhaddon devotes himself to the improvement of the old
temple at Erech, and Ashurbanabal prides himself upon having
rescued out of the hands of the Elamites a statue of Ishtar or
Nana of Erech that had been captured 1635 vears previous.2
1 See above, p. 151.
2 See Barton, " The Semitic Ishtar Cult" (Hebratca, x. 9-12).
THE ASSYRIAN PANTHEON. 207
ANU.
Reference has already been rmkje to the antiquity of the Anu
cult in Assyria, and that prior to theTime that the city of Ashur
assumes the role of mistress of the northern states, Anu stood
at the head of the pantheon, just as theoretically he continued
to occupy this place in the pantheon of the south. What is
especially important, he had a temple in the very city of Ashur,
whose patron god succeeded in usurping the place of the old
' god of heaven.' The character of Anu in the north differs in
no way from the traits assigned to him in the south. He is
the king of the Igigi and Anunnaki, that is, of all the heavenly
and earthly spirits, and he is this by virtue of being the supreme
god of heaven. His cult, however, appears to have suffered
through the overshadowing supremacy of Ashur. Even in his
old temple at Ashur, which Tiglathpileser I. on the occasion of
his rebuilding it, tells us was founded 641 years before this
restoration,1 he is no longer accorded sole homage. Ramman,
the god of thunder and of storms, because correlated to Anu,
is placed by the side of the latter and permitted to share the
honors with Anu.2 Anu survives in the Assyrian as in the Baby-
lonian pantheon by virtue of being a member of the theological
triad, composed as we have seen of Anu, Bel, and Ea. Tiglath-
pileser I. still invokes Anu as a deity of practical importance.
He associates him with Ramman and Ishtar as the great gods
of the city of Ashur or with Ramman alone, but beyond an
incidental mention by Ashurnasirbal, who in a long list of gods
at the beginning of his annals emphasizes the fact of his being
the favorite of Anu, he appears only in combination with Bel
and Ea. The same degree of reverence, however, was shown
to the old triad in Assyria as in Babylonia. The three gods
are asked not to listen to the prayers of the one who destroys
1 /.., Ishtar,2 Sin, Gula,
Ea, and Ramman, — that he erects or improves. One might be
led to regard it as strange that a god like Nin-ib, or Shamash,
should claim so large a share of the attention of the Assyrian
rulers, to the apparent neglect of Ashur, but it must be borne
in mind that the position of Ashur was so assured as to be
beyond the reach of rivalry. The fact also that Ashur's popu-
lar symbol was the movable standard was no doubt a reason
why so few temples were erected to him. He did not stand in
need of temples. For the very reason that Ashur was the
universally acknowledged master of everything, the kings felt
called upon to choose, by the side of Ashur, some additional
deity, — a patron under whose special protection they placed
themselves. The natural desire for novelty — together with
1 AshurnasirbaPs father bears the name Tukulti-Ninib.
2 See above, pp. 151, 206.
216 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
other circumstances that escape us — led one to choose Ram-
man, another Nin-ib, a third Shamash, and a fourth, as we
shall see, Nabu. In doing so they were not conscious of any
lack of respect towards Ashur, of whose. good will they always
felt certain.
Besides the service rendered by Nin-ib in war, his aid was
also invoked by the kings in their recreations, which partook
of the same violent character as their vocation. Their favorite
sport was hunting, especially of lions, wild horses, elephants,
stags, boars, and bulls. They either proceeded to districts
where these animals were to be found, or they had large parks
laid out near their residences, which were then stocked with
material for the chase. Ashurnasirbal does not shun a long
journey to distant mountainous regions to seek for sport, and
it is Nin-ib whom he invokes, together with Nergal. These
two, he declares, who, like Ashur and Ishtar, " love his priest-
hood," are the ones that convey into his hands the hunting
spoils. Tiglathpileser I. was especially fond of lion and ele-
phant hunting. He declares that on one occasion he killed
10 elephants and 920 lions in various parts of northwestern
Mesopotamia ; and he ascribes his success to Nin-ib, who
loves him, and who, again, in association with Nergal, and
Ashur, has placed in the king's hands the mighty weapons
and the glorious bow. After the days of Shamshi-Ramman we
hear of Nin-ib chiefly in the formal lists of gods which the later
kings of Assyria, from Sargon 1 on, are fond of placing at the
beginning and end of their inscriptions. These lists, again,
copied the one from the other, are of value only as indicating
the chief gods of the pantheon, but warrant no conclusions
as to the activity reigning in the cults of the gods there men-
tioned. Before leaving Nin-ib a few words need be said as to
his relations to the other gods. In the chapter on the pantheon
before Hammurabi,2 the identity of Nin-ib with the chief god
1 One of the gates of Sargon's palace is called after Nin-ib. 2 See above, p. 57.
THE ASSYRIAN PANTHEON. 217
of Gudea's district, Nin-girsu, has been pointed out. The
solar character of the latter being clear, it follows that Nin-ib,
too, is originally a personification of the sun, like Nin-gish-zida
and Nin-shakh, whose roles are absorbed by Nin-ib.1 This
has long been recognized, but it is the merit of Jensen2 to
have demonstrated that it is the east sun and the morning sun
which is more especially represented by Nin-ib. On this sup-
position, some of the titles given to him in the inscriptions of
Ashurnasirbal and Shamshi-Ramman become perfectly clear.
Like Marduk, who, it will be remembered, is also originally a
phase of the solar deity, Nin-ib is called the first-born of Ea ;
and as the rising sun he is appropriately called the offspring of
Ekur, — i.e., the earth, — in allusion to his apparent ascent
from a place below the earth. Ekur and Eshara being em-
ployed as synonyms, Shamshi-Ramman replaces Ekur by
Eshara, and since Bel is the lord of Ekur-Eshara, Nin-ib also
becomes the first-born son of Bel. Other epithets, such as
' the light of heaven and earth,' ' the one who pursues his path
over the wide world,' 3 are all in keeping with the solar char-
acter of the deity, and date, therefore, from a period when the
more purely ' nature ' phases of the god were dwelt upon.
But just as in the case of Shamash and Nergal (also, as we
have seen, a solar deity), so in that of Nin-ib, the violent,
fiery, and destructive character that the sun has in a climate
like that of Babylonia brought it about that Nin-ib was viewed
as a destructive force, whose assistance was of great value in
military strife. He becomes the god of the cloud storm, before
whom, as he passes along, heaven and earth tremble. By his
strong weapon he humiliates the disobedient, destroys the ene-
mies of the kings, and grants all manner of protection to his
favorites. Only in the religious literature are other qualities
1 See above, pp. 92-94. 2 Kosmologie, pp. 457-475.
3 He is also called the offspring of a goddess, Ku-tu-shar, but this reference is not
clear. See Jensen, Kosmologie, p. 468, note 5.
218 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
dwelt upon, such as his ' holiness.' l For Hammurabi, it will
be recalled, Nin-ib is already the god of war, and it is natural
that in a country like Assyria this side of the god's nature
should become accentuated to the point of obscuring all
others, until nothing more is left of his solar character than is
indicated by stray bits of mythological phrases, perhaps only
half understood, and introduced to add to the imposing array
of epithets that belong to the terrible god of war. As the
consort of Nin-ib, the Assyrians recognized
GULA.
She is only occasionally invoked by the Assyrian rulers. A
sanctuary to Gula, as the consort of Nin-ib, is erected by Ashur-
nasirbal, and a festival in honor of the goddess is referred to
by Ashurbanabal.
NERGAL.
Nergal not only shares with Nin-ib, as already mentioned,
the honor of being the god under whose auspices the royal
chase is carried on, but he is also, like Nin-ib, invoked in that
other sport of which the Assyrian rulers were so fond, — war.
He is scarcely differentiated from Nin-ib. Like the latter he
is the perfect king of battle, who marches before the monarch
together with Ashur, and he is pictured as carrying the mighty
weapons which Ashur has presented to the king. In an
inscription of Shalmaneser II.2 there is an interesting refer-
ence to the city sacred to Nergal — Cuthah. The king, who
in the course of his campaign against Babylonia reaches
Cuthah, brings sacrifices to Nergal, whom he speaks of as ' the
hero of the gods, the supreme raging sun.' A later king,
Sargon, also honors the god by giving a fortress in the distant
land of Nairi, to the northeast of Assyria, the name of Kar3-
1 In a religious text he is addressed as * holy, holy, holy.'
2 Balawat, col. v. 11. 4, 5. 3 Kar = fortress.
THE ASSYRIAN PANTHEON. 219
Nergal. It would seem as though, through the influence of
Sargon, a revival of the Nergal cult took place. His successor,
Sennacherib, erects a temple in honor of the god at Tarbisu,
a suburb to the north of Nineveh proper, and Ashurbanabal,
who dwells at Tarbisu for a while, is engaged in adding to the
beauty of the edifice, — an indication of the honor in which the
god continued to be held. Nergal's consort is Laz, but she is
not referred to by the Assyrian rulers.
SIN.
, The old Babylonian moon-god plays a comparatively insignifi-
cant role in Assyria. Ashurnasirbal speaks of a temple that he
founded in Calah — perhaps only a chapel — in honor of Sin.
It could not have been of much importance, for we learn noth-
ing further about it. Sargon, too, who manifests a great fond-
ness for reviving ancient cults, erects sanctuaries to Sin along
with a quantity of other gods in his official residence at Khor-
sabad and beyond the northeastern confines of Assyria at
Magganubba. But when invoked by the kings, Sin shows
traces of the influence which the conceptions current about
Ashur exerted upon his fellow deities. He takes on, as other
of the gods, the attributes of the war-god. Instead of being
merely the lord of the crescent, as in Babylonia, and one of
the sources of wisdom because of the connection of astrology
with lunar observations, he is pictured as capable of inspiring
terror. At the same time he is also the lord of plenty, and
in his capacity as the wise god he is regarded as the lord of
decisions. But by the side of new epithets that are attached
to him in the Assyrian inscriptions, there is one which, just as
in the case of Nin-ib, connects the Assyrian Sin cult with the
oldest phase of moon- worship in the south. It is one of the
last kings of Assyria, Ashurbanabal, who calls Sin 'the first-
born son of Bel.' He appears in this relationship to Bel in the
220 BABYLONIAN- ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
religious texts of Babylonia. The Bel here meant can only be
the great god of Nippur, and the title ' son of Bel ' accordingly
shows that the moon-worship of Assyria is ultimately derived
from that which had its seat in the south. Sin's secondary
position is indicated by making him a son of Bel. The rise
of the science of astronomy in connection with astrology,
was, as already suggested, an important factor in spreading
and maintaining the Sin cult in the south, while the lack of
intellectual originality in Assyria would equally account for the
comparatively subordinate position occupied by Sin in the
Assyrian pantheon.
NUSKU.
That Nusku is a Babylonian god, meriting a place in the
pantheon of Hammurabi, if not of the days prior to the union •
of the Babylonian states, is shown by the fact (i) that he had a
shrine in the great temple of Marduk at Babylon, along with
Nebo, Tashmitum, and Ea ; l and (2) that he appears in the
religious texts. In view of this it might appear strange that we
find no reference to the god in historical texts till we reach the
Assyrian period. The reason, or at least one reason, is that
Nusku is on the one hand amalgamated with Gibil, the fire-god,
and on the* other identified with Nabu. The compound ideo-
gram with which his name is written includes the same sign —
the stylus or sceptre — that is used to designate Nabu, the sec-
ond part of the ideogram adding the idea of 'force and strength.'
Whether this graphical assimilation is to be regarded as a fac-
tor in bringing about the identification of Nusku and Nabu, or
is due to an original similarity in the traits of the two gods, it
is difficult to say. Hardly the latter, for Nusku is a solar
deity, whereas, as we have tried to show, Nabu is originally a
water-deity.2 But however we may choose to account for it,
1 See Sayce, Hibbert Lectures, p. 438, and Jensen's important note, Kosmologie,
pp. 492-494- 2 See pp. 124, 125.
THE ASSYRIAN PANTHEON. 221
the prominence of Nusku is obscured by Nabu. As a solar
deity, it is easy to see how he should have been regarded as a
phase of the fire-god, and if the various other solar deities were
not so regarded, it is because in the course of their develop-
ment they were clothed with other attributes that, while obscur-
ing their origin, saved them from the loss of their identity.
Apart from the formal lists of gods drawn up by Sargon and
his successors, Shalmaneser II. and Ashurbanabal are the only
kings who make special mention of Nusku. The former calls
him the bearer of the brilliant sceptre, just as Nabu is so
called; and again, just as Nabu, he is termed the wise god.
The two phases of the ideogram used in his name — the sceptre
and the stylus — are thus united in the personage of Nusku
precisely as in Nabu. On the other hand, the manner in
which Ashurbanabal speaks of him reflects the mythological
aspect of Nusku. In the religious literature Nusku is the
messenger of Bel-Marduk, who conveys the message of the
latter to Ea.. From being the messenger of Bel, he comes to
be viewed as the messenger of the gods in general, and accord-
ingly Ashurbanabal addresses him as ' the highly honored
messenger of the gods,' but, combining with the mythological
the more realistic aspect of Nusku, refers to him also as the
one who glorifies sovereignty and who, at the command of Ashur
and Belit, stands at the king's side to aid in bringing' the ene-
mies to fall. As for the fire-god Gibil, with whom Nusku is
identified, we have merely a reference to a month of the year
sacred to the servant of Gibil in a passage of the inscriptions
of Sargon.1
BEL-MARDUK.
From the time that the Assyrian rulers claimed a greater or
small measure of control over the affairs of Babylonia, that is,
therefore, from about the twelfth century, they were anxious to
1 Cylinder, 1. 61.
222 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
make good their claim by including in their pantheon the chief
god of Babylonia. The Assyrian inscriptions prove that, as
early as the twelfth century, the theoretical absorption on the
part of Marduk, of the role taken by the old god Bel of Nippur,
which was enlarged upon in a preceding chapter,1 had already
taken place. Marduk is not only frequently known as Bel, but
what is more, Babylonia is the country of Bel, or simply Bel,
and the Babylonians are referred to as 'the subjects of Bel,' or
the * humanity of Bel.' There can be no doubt that in all these
cases Bel-Marduk is meant and not the older Bel. In the days
of Ashurrishishi we already come across the title * governor of
Bel,' that to the latest days remains the official designation for
political control over the southern empire. So general is this
use of Bel for Marduk that the latter name does not occur until
we reach Shalmaneser II., i.e., the ninth century. There seems
to be no reason to question, therefore, that even when Tiglath-
pileser I. applies to Bel titles that certainly belong to the older
Bel, such as 'father of the gods,' 'king of all the Anunnaki,'
' who. fixes the decrees of heaven and earth,' he means Marduk,
a proof for which may be seen in the epithet bel matati, ' lord of
lands,' which follows upon these designations and which, as we
saw, is a factor in the evolution of Marduk into Bel-Marduk.2
The importance that Tiglathpileser I., and therefore also his
successors, attached to their control over the old southern dis-
trict, is shown by his according to Bel the second place in the
pantheon, invoking him at the beginning of his inscriptions
immediately after Ashur. The control over Babylonia was an
achievement that stirred the pride of the Assyrian rulers to the
highest degree. Its age and its past inspired respect. Besides
being the source of the culture that Assyria possessed, Baby-
lonia had sacred associations for the Assyrians, as the original
1 See pp. 117 seq.
2 We may therefore expect, some day, to come across the name Marduk in Assyr-
ian texts earlier than the ninth century.
THE ASSYRIAN PANTHEON. 223
dwelling-places of most of the gods worshipped by them. The
old sacred centers like Ur, Nippur, Uruk, Sippar, with their
great temples, their elaborate cults, their great storehouses of
religious literature, and their great body of influential priests
and theologians and astrologers were as dear to the people
of the north as to those of the south ; and in proportion as
these old cities lost their political importance, their rank as
sacred centers to which pilgrimages were made on the occasion
of the festivals of the gods was correspondingly raised. Hence
the value that the Assyrian rulers attached to the possession of
Babylonia. They do not like to be reminded that they rule the
south by force of arms. They prefer, as Tiglathpileser I.
declares, to consider themselves ' nominated by the gods to rule
over the land of Bel.' They want to be regarded as the favor-
ites of Bel, and they ascribe to him the greatness of their rule.
It is he who fulfills the wishes of the kings; and when the kings
enter upon a campaign against Babylonia, as they frequently
did to quell the uprisings that were constantly occurring in the
one or the other of the southern districts, they emphasize, as
Shalmaneser II. does, that he enters upon this course at the
command of Marduk. They set themselves up as Marduk's
defenders, and it must be said for the Assyrian rulers that they
were mild and sparing in their treatment of their southern sub-
jects. They do not practise those cruelties — burning of cities,
pillage, and promiscuous slaughter — that form the main feature
in their campaigns against the nations to the northeast and
northwest, and against Elam. They accord to the Babylonians as
much of the old independence as was consistent with an impe-
rial policy. The internal affairs continue for a long time to be
regulated by rulers who are natives of Babylonia, and it is not
until a comparatively late day — the time of Sennacherib —
that in consequence of the endless trouble that these native
rulers gave the Assyrians through their constant attempt to
make themselves independent, it became customary for the
224 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
Assyrian kings to appoint a member of the royal house — a son
or brother — to the lieutenancy over Babylonia. As for the
cult, the Assyrian kings were at great pains to leave it undis-
turbed, or where it had been interrupted to restore it, and thus
secure the favor of the southern gods. So Shalmaneser II.
upon the completion of his campaign enters Marduk's great
temple at Babylon, E-sagila, and offers prayers and sacrifices
to Bel and Belit, i.e., Marduk and Sarpanitum. From E-sagila
he crosses over to Borsippa, and pays homage to Nabu and to
Nabu's consort, whom he calls Nana.1 The kings are fond,
especially when speaking of the Babylonian campaigns, of slip-
ping in the name of Marduk after that of Ashur. With the
help of Ashur and Marduk their troops are victorious. Marduk
shares Ashur s terrible majesty. At times Shamash, or Sham-
ash and Ramman, are added to form a little pantheon whose
assistance is invoked in the Babylonian wars. From being
used in restricted application to Babylonian affairs, Ashur and
Marduk came to be invoked in a general way. Esarhaddon ex-
pressly sets up the claim of being the savior of Marduk's honor,
as a kind of apology for proceeding against Babylonia with his
armies. Sargon, to emphasize his legitimate control over Baby-
lonia as well as Assyria, says that he has been called to the
throne by Ashur and Marduk, but Ashurbanabal goes further
even than his .predecessors. He proceeds to Babylon on the
occasion of the formal installation of his brother Shamashshum-
ukin as viceroy of the district, enters the temple of Marduk,
whom he does not hesitate to call 'the lord of lords,' performs
the customary rites, and closes the ceremonies by a fervent
prayer to Marduk for his continued good will and blessing.2
The great gods Nergal, Nabu, and Shamash come from their
respective shrines to do homage to Marduk. Ashurbanabal's
1 See p. 132.
2 So also Shalmaneser II., Obelisk, 1. 179, unless Marduk here is an error for
Ramman, cf. \. 175.
THE ASSYRIAN PANTPIEON. 225
brother Shamashshumukin, when he attempts as governor of
Babylon to make himself independent of his brother, endeavors
by means of sacrifices and other devices to secure the favor of
Marduk, well aware that in this way he will also gain the sup-
port of the Babylonians. On another occasion, incidental to a
northern campaign, Ashurbanabal mentions that the day on
which he broke up camp at Damascus was the festival of Mar-
duk,— an indication that the Babylonian god was in his thoughts,
even when he himself was far away from Babylonia. Esarhad-
don and Ashurbanabal, when approaching the sun-god to obtain
an oracle, make mention of Marduk by the side of Shamash.
There are, however, a number of passages in the Assyrian
inscriptions in which when Bel is spoken of, not Marduk but
the old god Bel is meant.
BEL.
Tiglathpileser I. tells us that he rebuilt a temple to Bel in
the city of Ashur, and he qualifies the name of the god by
adding the word ' old ' to it. In this way he evidently distin-
guished the god of Nippur from Bel-Marduk, similarly as Ham-
murabi in one place adds Dagan to Bel,1 to make it perfectly
clear what god he meant. Again, it is Sargon who in consist-
ent accord with his fondness for displaying his archaeological
tastes, introduces Bel, the 'great mountain, 'the- lord of coun-
tries,' who dwells in E-khar-sag-kurkura, i.e., the sacred moun-
tain on which the gods are born, as participating in the fes-
tival that takes place upon the dedication of the king's palace
in Khorsabad. The titles used by the king are applicable only
to the old Bel, but whether he or his scribes were fully conscious
of a differentiation between Bel and Bel-Marduk, it is difficult
to say. Bel is introduced in the inscription in question 2 imme-
diately after Ashur, and one is therefore inclined to suspect
1 See above, p. 146.
2 The so-called Prunkinschrift, 11. 174 seq.
226 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
that Sargon's archaeological knowledge fails him at this point
in speaking of the old Bel, whereas he really meant to invoke
the protection of Bel-Marduk as the chief god of his most im-
portant possession next to Assyria.1 Besides this, the old Bel
is of course meant, when associated with Anu, as the powers
that, together with Belit, grant victory,2 or as a member of the
old triad, Anu, Bel, and Ea, whose mention we have seen is as
characteristic of the Assyrian inscriptions as of the Babylonian.
Lastly, Sargon calls one of the gates of his palace after Bel,
whom he designates as the one who lays the foundation of all
things. In this case, too, the old Bel is meant.
BELIT.
In the case of Belit a curious species of confusion confronts
us in the Assyrian inscriptions. At times Belit appears as the
wife of Bel, again as the consort of Ashur, again as the consort
of Ea, and again simply as a designation of Ishtar.3 To
account for this we must bear in mind, as has already been
pointed out, that just as Bel in the sense of lord came to be
applied merely as a title of the chief god of Babylonia, so Belit
as f lady ' was used in Assyria to designate the chief goddess.
This was, as the case may be, either Ishtar or the pale * reflec-
tion' associated with Ashur as his consort. Now this Belit, as
the wife of Ashur, absorbs the qualities that distinguish Belit,
the wife of Bel-Marduk. The temple in the city of Ashur, which
Tiglathpileser 1. 4 enriches with presents consisting of the images
of the deities vanquished by the king, may in reality have been
sacred to the Belit of Babylonia, but Tiglathpileser, for whom
Bel becomes merely a designation of Marduk, does not feel
called upon to pay his devotions to the Babylonian Sarpanitum,
1 Note the frequent use of Ashur and Bel for Assyria and Babylonia.
2 Ashurbanabal, Rassam Cylinder, col. ix. 11. 76, 77.
3 See above, p. 205.
4 lR.ii.col.iv.il. 34, 35.
THE ASSYRIAN PANTHEON. 227
and so converts the old Belit into * the lofty wife, beloved of
Ashur.' Sargon, on the other hand, who calls one of the gates
of his palace Belit Hani, ' mistress of the gods,' seems to mean by
this, the consort of Ea.1 Similarly, Ashurbanabal regards Belit
as the wife of Ashur, and himself as the offspring of Ashur and
Belit. At the same time he gives to this Belit the title of
1 mother of great gods,' which of right belongs to the consort
of the Babylonian Bel. In the full pantheon as enumerated by
him, Belit occupies a place immediately behind her consort
Ashur. Ashurbanabal, however, goes still further, and, influ-
enced by the title of ' Belit ' as applied to Ishtar, makes the
latter the consort of Ashur. This at least is the case in an
inscription from the temple of Belit at Nineveh,2 known as E-
mash-mash, and in which Ashurbanabal alternately addresses
the goddess as Belit and as Ishtar, while elsewhere3 this same
Belit, whose seat is in E-mash-mash, is termed the consort of
Ashur. How Ashurbanabal or his scribes came to this con-
fusing identification we need not stop to inquire. In part, no
doubt, it was due to the general sense of 'goddess,' which
Ishtar began to acquire in his days.4 At all events, Ashur-
banabaPs conception marks a contrast to the procedure of
Shalmaneser II., who correctly identifies the mother of the
great gods with the wife of Bel.5 On the other hand, the
confusion that took place in Ashurbanabal's days is fore-
shadowed by the title of ' Belit mati,' i.e., ' mistress of the land,'
by which Ashurbanabal appears to designate some other than
Ishtar.6 Lastly, it is interesting to note that Ashurbanabal
recognizes' by the side of Belit-Ishtar, the wife of Ashur, the
older Belit, the wife of the Bel of Nippur, to whom, in associa-
1 See* below, pp. 231, 237.
2 Rawlinson, ii. 66.
3 Rassam Cylinder, col. x. 11. 25-27.
4 See Tiele, Babyl.-Assyr. Geschichte, p. 127.
5 Obelisk, 1. 52.
6 Annals, col. ii. 1. 135.
228 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
tion with Anu and Bel, he attributes his victory over the
Arabs.1
SARPANITUM.
The consort of Marduk is only incidentally referred to:
once by Sargon,2 who groups Bel with Sarpanitum and Nabu
and Tashmitum, at the head of the gods of Babylonia ; and
similarly by Tiglathpileser III., on the occasion of his enumer-
ating the chief gods of the Babylonian pantheon.
NABU.
The intimate association of Nabu with Marduk in the city of
Babylon leads as a natural consequence to a similar associa-
tion in Assyria, when once the Marduk cult had for political
reasons become established in the north. The kings invoke
the favor of Bel (meaning Marduk) and Nabu, especially when
dealing with the affairs of Babylonia,3 as they invoke Ashur
and Ishtar. Just as we have certain kings devoted to Nin-ib
and Shamash by the side of Ashur, so there are others whose
special favorite is Nabu. In the days of Ramman-nirari III.
(812-783 B.C.) the Nabu cult reached its highest point of popu-
larity in Assyria. From the manner in which the king speaks
of the god, one might draw the conclusion that he attempted to
concentrate the whole Assyrian cult upon that god alone. He
erects a temple to the god at Calah, and overwhelms the deity
with a great array of titles. The dedicatory inscription which
the king places on a statue of Nebo closes with the significant
words, 'O Posterity! trust in Nabu. Trust in no other god.'4
Still we must not press such phrases too hard. Ramman-nirari
III. had no intention of suppressing Ashur worship, for he
1 Rassam Cylinder, col. x. 1. 75.
2 Prunkinschrifti 1. 143.
3 Esarhaddon, IR. 46,col.ii. 1. 48; Rawlinson, iii. 16, col. Hi. 1. 24.
4 JR. 35, no. 2, 1. 12.
THE ASSYRIAN PANTHEON. 229
mentions the god elsewhere, and assigns to him the same rank
as the other kings do, but so much we are justified in conclud-
ing, that next to Ashur and Ishtar he feels most strongly
attached to Nabu. That the Babylonian Nabu is meant, is clear
from such designations as ' the offspring of E-sagila, the favorite
of Bel,' 'he who dwells at E-zida,' which appear among the
epithets bestowed upon the god ; and the temple in Calah, which
one of the last kings of Assyria, Ashuretililani,1 is engaged in
improving, bears the same name E-zida, as Nabu's great temple
at Borsippa. We have already set forth the reasons 2 for the
popularity of the Nabu cult in Assyria. Suffice it to recall that
the peculiar character of the god as the patron of wisdom placed
him beyond the reach of any jealousy on the part of the other
members of the pantheon. So Ramman-nirari III. extols Nabu
as the protector of the arts, the all-wise who guides the stylus of
the scribe, and the possessor of wisdom in general. He is not
merely the originator of writing, but the source of all wisdom,
and for this reason he is spoken of as the son of Ea. Attri-
butes of mere brutal force are rarely assigned to Nabu, but as
befits a god of wisdom, mercy, nobility, and majesty constitute
his chief attractions. By virtue of his wisdom, Sargon calls
him ' the clear seer who guides all the gods,' and when the last
king of Assyria — Saracus, as the Greek writers called him —
invokes Nabu as the * leader of forces,' he appears to have in
mind the heavenly troops rather than earthly armies. Such
patrons of learning as Sargon and Ashurbanabal were naturally
fond of parading their devotion to Nabu. The former signifi-
cantly calls him the ' writer of everything,' and as for Ashur-
banabal, almost every tablet in the great literary collection that
he made at Nineveh closes with a solemn invocation to Nabu
and his consort Tashmitum, to whom he offers thanks for hav-
ing opened his ears to receive wisdom, and who persuaded him
1 IR. 8, no. 3, 11. 5 seq.
2 See above, p. 126.
230 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
to make the vast literary treasures of the past accessible to his
subjects.
TASHMITUM.
The consort of Nabu was permitted to share the honors in
the temple of Nabu at Calah, but beyond this and Ashurban-
abal's constant association of Tashmitum with Nabu in the
subscript to his tablets, she appears only when the kings of
Assyria coming to Babylonia as they were wont to do,1 in order
to perform sacrifices, enumerate the chief gods of the Babylo-
nian pantheon.
EA. .
Ea takes his place in the Assyrian pantheon in the double
capacity of god of wisdom and as a member of the old triad.
Ashurnasirbal makes mention of a sanctuary erected to the
honor of Ea in Ashur. A recollection of the role that Ea plays
in Babylonian mythology survives in the titles of ' creator ' and
* king of the ocean,' which Shalmaneser gives him,2 and of the
* one who opens the fountains ' as Ashurbanabal declares.3
He is also, as in Babylonia, the one who determines the fates
of mankind. As the one who has a care for the arts, he is the
wise god, just as Nabu, and under various titles, as Nu-gim-
mud,4 Nin-igi-azag, and Igi-dug-gu,5 all emphasizing his skill,
he is the artificer who aids the kings in their building opera-
tions. The similarity of the roles of Nabu and Ea, as gods of
wisdom and the arts, might easily have led to a confusion.
1 E.g., Tiglathpileser III., Nimrud inscription (Layard, pi. 17, 1. 12).
2 Obelisk,!. 5.
3 Rassam Cylinder, col. i. 1. 45.
4 Delitzsch (Das Babylonische Weltschopfungsepos, p. 99) questions whether Nu-
gim-mud (or Nu-dim-mud) was originally a designation of Ea. Nu-dim-mud being
an epithet might, of course, be applied to other gods, but there can be no doubt that
it was used to designate more particularly Ea as the artificer. See my remarks,
pp. 138, 177 seq.
5 Meissner-Rost, Bauinscriften SanheriVs, p. 105.
THE ASSYRIAN PANTHEON. 231
Fortunately, the grandiloquent and all-embracing titles accorded
to the former did not alter his character as essentially the god
who presides over the art of writing, while Ea retains the con-
trol over the architectural achievements, — the great colossi, in
the first instance, that guarded the approach of palaces, the
images of the gods in the second, and the temples and palaces
in general as his third function.
DAMKINA.
Of the consort of Ea, it is sufficient to note that she is occa-
sionally referred to in the historical texts of the Assyrian
period. In the inscriptions of Sargon she appears under the
rather strange title of 'Belit ilani,' /.*., the mistress of the gods.1
This * mistress ' cannot 'be, as might at first blush appear,
Ishtar or the old Belit, for elsewhere 2 Ishtar, Belit, and Belit
ilani occur side by side. Sargon declares that he owes his
wisdom to Ea and Belit ilani. In naming the gates of his
palace, he again associates Ea with ' the mistress of the gods,'
from which it is clear that the epithet is used of Ea's consort.
NIN-GAL.
A sanctuary to the old Babylonian goddess Nin-gal is included
by Sargon among the holy edifices erected by him in his official
residence.3
DIBBARRA.
We have pointed out in a previous chapter how faint the
dividing line sometimes becomes between gods and spirits.
Among the minor deities, ranking hardly above demons, is the
1 Cylinder, 1. 48, ideographically as Nin-men-an-na, ' lady of the heavenly crown.'
In the parallel passage, however, as Lyon (Sargontexte, p. 71) points out, Belit ilani
is used.
2 Cylinder, 1. 70.
3 Cylinder, 1. 68.
232 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
plague-god, whose name may provisionally be read Dibbarra.1
The god plays a role in some of the ancient legends of Baby-
lonia. Remains have been found of a kind of epic in which
Dibbarra is the chief personage.2 In the historical texts he
is once incidentally mentioned by Ashurbanabal, who in the
course of his campaign against Babylonia3 describes how the
corpses of those killed by Dibbarra, />., through hunger and
want, filled the streets of the cities. Evidently Dibbarra here is
a mere personification of the dreadful demon of want that so
often follows in the wake of a military destruction. Still there
can be no doubt that at one time .he was regarded as a real
deity, and not merely a spirit or demon. Dibbarra is identified
in the theological system of Babylonia with Nergal.
DAMKU, SHARRU-ILU, AND SHA-NIT(?)-KA.
In an interesting passage recounting the restoration of the
city Magganubba, Sargon4 says that he prayed to Damku, i.e.,
' grace,' Sharru-ilu, i.e., ' king-god,' and Sha-nit(?)-ka. The two
former he calls the judges of mankind. That Damku and
Sharru-ilu are titles and not names is evident from the mean-
ing of the words, but at present it is impossible to say what
gods are meant.5 Perhaps that these are the translations of
names of the old deities of Magganubba. We have at least one
other example of a foreign deity introduced into the Assyrian
pantheon. At Dur-ilu, a town lying near the Elamitic frontier,
there flourished the cult of Ka-di,6 evidently a god imported
into the Assyrian pantheon from Elam or some other eastern
district. S argon's scribes are fond of translating foreign names
1 Jensen. Kostnologie, p. 445, reads the name Gira. See pp. 527-28.
a See the author's work on A Fragment of the Dibbarra Epic. (Ginn & Co.,
Boston, 1891).
3 Rassam Cylinder, col. iv. 11. 79 scq. 4 Cylinder, 11. 44-53.
5 Delitzsch's supposition (see Lyon, Sargontexte, p. 71) that Sharru-ilu is Izdubar
is untenable.
6 Babyl. Chronicle, col. iii. 1. 44.
THE ASSYRIAN PANTHEON. 233
and words, and they may have done so in this case, and thus
added two new deities to the glorious pantheon protecting their
royal chief. As for Sha-nit(?)-ka,1 were it not that she is
called the mistress of Nineveh, one would also put her down as
a foreign goddess. In view of this, however, it may be that
Sha-nit(?)-ka is a"n ideographic designation of Ishtar.
Before leaving the subject, a word needs to be said regarding
the relation between the active Assyrian pantheon and the
long lists of deities prepared by the schoolmen of Babylonia
and Assyria. Reference has already been made to these lists.2
They vary in character. Some of them furnish an index of the
various names under which a god was known,3 or the titles
assigned to him. These names and titles are frequently indi-
cations that some great god has absorbed the attributes of
smaller ones, whose independence was in this way destroyed.
Other lists4 are simple enumerations of local deities, and when
to these names some indications are added, as to the locality
to which the gods belong,5 their importance is correspondingly
increased. There can be no doubt that most of these lists
were prepared on the basis of the occurrence of these gods in
texts, and it seems most plausible to conclude that the texts in
question were of a religious character. References to local
cults are numerous in the incantations which form a consider-
able proportion of the religious literature, while in hymns and
prayers, gods are often referred to by their titles instead of their
names. In some respects, however, these lists of gods are still
obscure. It is often difficult to determine whether we are deal-
ing with gods or spirits, and the origin and meaning of many
of the names and epithets assigned to gods are similarly in-
1 May also be read Sha-ush-ka.
2 See above, pp. 13, 170.
3 E.g., IIR. 58, no. 5, titles of Ea; IIR. 60, no. 2, titles of Nabu.
*E.g., IIR. 60, no. i.
5 E.g., II1R. 66, lists of gods worshipped in various temples of Assyria and also
of Babylonia.
234 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
volved in doubt. Use has been made of tnese lists in deter-
mining the character of the gods included in this survey of the
Babylonian and Assyrian pantheon, but it would be manifestly
precarious to make additions to this pantheon on the basis of
the lists alone. Despite the tendency towards centralization
of divine power in a limited number of gods, local cults, no
doubt, continued to enjoy some importance in Assyria as well
as Babylonia ; but, in the present stage of our knowledge, we
have no means of determining either the number or the char-
acter of these local cults. While, therefore, a complete treat-
ment of the pantheon of Babylonia and Assyria would include
all the minor local cults, we may feel quite certain that these
local cults furnish few, if any, additions to the concepts con-
nected with these gods which we have discussed. I have
therefore contented myself with some illustrations, in each of
the three divisions under which the pantheon has been surveyed,
of some of the minor deities chosen, such as actually occur in
historical, commercial, or religious texts. For the Assyrian
pantheon, we may place Nin-gal and most of the consorts of
the gods among the minor gods, and also such deities as
Ka-di, Khani, Gaga, Dibbarra, Sherua, and Azag-sir, who are
merely incidentally referred to.1 These illustrations suffice
for placing clearly before us the distinction to be made in the
pantheon between gods whose worship was actively carried
on, and those who occupy more of a theoretical position in
the system perfected by the schoolmen, standing under the
political and social influences of their days. With this dis-
tinction clearly impressed upon us, we will be prepared for
such modifications of our views of the Babylonian-Assyrian
pantheon as further researches and discoveries may render
necessary.
1 See pp. 189, 238.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE TRIAD AND THE COMBINED INVOCATION OF DEITIES.
THE Assyrian kings, in imitation of the example set by their
Babylonian predecessors, are fond of introducing into their
inscriptions, a series of gods under whose protection they place
themselves. They do not do this as the earlier Babylonian
rulers did, to emphasize the extent of their jurisdiction by add-
ing to their pantheon the deities of towns or districts vanquished
by them. The day of independent states being over, the impor-
tance of merely local deities had ceased. The theological
system evolved in Babylonia in combination with the popular
instinct had led to a selection out of the mass of deities of a
limited number, each with tolerably definite attributes, and who
together embraced all the forces under whose power mankind
stood. Of these deities again, as we have seen, some acquired
greater favor in Assyria than others, but for all that, the kings
especially of the later period of Assyrian history were fond of
including in an enumeration of the pantheon, even those who
had no special significance. Policy and the meaningless imi-
tation of earlier examples played an equal part in thus giving
to the lists an aspect of formality that deprives them of the
impression that they might otherwise make.
The combined invocations are found usually at the beginning
and at the end of the inscriptions — at the beginning for invok-
ing .the aid of the gods, at the close for invoking their curses
upon those who would attempt to destroy the ambitious monu-
ments set up by the kings. Often, however, the narrative is
interrupted for the purpose of making acknowledgment to a
larger or smaller series of gods for victory, granted or hoped for.
236 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
In these combined references a separate place belongs to the
triad, Anu, Bel, and Ea. While not occupying the prominent
position they have in Babylonian inscriptions, still the kings
often mention Anu, Bel, and Ea separately, or Anu and Bel
alone, ascribing victory to them, putting them down as the
originators of the calendar system, and declaring themselves to
have been nominated by them to rule over Assyria. Sargon,
with his antiquarian zeal, appears to have made an effort to
reinstate the triad as a special group in the pantheon. In gen-
eral, however, they take their place with other gods. So Ram-
man-nirari I. invokes the curse of Ashur, Anu, Bel, Ea, and Ish-
tar, together with the Igigi and Anunnaki ; but, what is more
important, already at an early period the triad disappears alto-
gether from the pantheon, except for the artificial attempts of
Sargon to revive interest in them. In both the longer and
shorter liSts of gods enumerated by the kings from the time of
Tiglathpileser, the triad is conspicuous for its absence.
As for the other gods, it is to some extent a matter of caprice
which ones happen to be invoked, though just as frequently we
see the motive for selecting certain ones of the pantheon. Thus,
when proceeding to Babylonia for war or sacrifices, the gods
of Babylonia are invoked, either Marduk and Nabu alone,
as the chief gods, or Bel (*>., Marduk), Sarpanitum, Nabu,
Tashmitum, Nana, Nergal, with Ashur, or Ashur and Marduk,
or Marduk and Nabu in combination with Ashur. At other
times it depends upon the gods to whom certain kings may
be especially attached, or with whom they may have special
dealings in their inscriptions. Thus Tiglathpileser I., when
speaking of the temple of Anu and Ramman, contents himself
with invoking these two gods alone at the close of his great
inscription. Elsewhere, when referring to the special gods of
his city, he combines Anu and Ramman with Ishtar ; but
again, for no special reason, his prayer is addressed to Ashur,
Shamash, and Ramman. The pantheon of Ramman-nirari I.
THE COMBINED INVOCATION OF DEITIES. 237
consists either of the longer one above enumerated, or of Anu,
Ashur, Shamash, Ramman, and Ishtar. As we proceed down
the centuries, the formal lists at the beginning of inscriptions
have a tendency to grow larger. Ashurnasirbal's pantheon con_
sists of. Bel and Nin-ib, Anu and Dagan, Sin, Anu, Ramman,
and, of course, Ashur, though on special occasions, as when
speaking of his achievements in the chase, he contents himself
with a mention of Nin-ib and Nergal. He loves, too, to vary
the style of his inscriptions by naming various groups of deities
in pairs: now Ashur and Shamash, again Ashur and Nin-ib, or
Ashur and Bel ; then Shamash and Ramman, or a group of
three deities, Ashur, Shamash, and Ramman, or Sin, Anu, and
Ramman. His successors imitate this example, though each
one chooses his own combinations. Shalmaneser II. 's pan-
theon embraces Ashur, Anu, Bel, Ea, Sin, Shamash, Nin-ib,
Nergal, Nusku, Belit, and Ishtar — eleven in all. Sargon's
practice varies. The best list is furnished by his account of
the eight gates of his palace and of two walls, which he names
after the gods in the following order : l
Shamash, who grants victory. > As the names for the
Ramman, who brings superabundance. > eastern gates.
Bel, who lays foundations. ) ^
T, Vi , / . .. ... >• For the northern gates.
Belit, who brings fertility. )
Anu, who blesses handiwork. •) For the western
Ishtar, who causes the inhabitants to flourish. > gates.
Ea, who unlocks fountains. >
D~ f/MA . • • . i re • r For the southern gates.
Belit ilam,2 who increases the offspring. )
Ashur, who permits the king to grow old, and protects the troops.
— For the inner wall.
Nin-ib, who lays the foundations of the city. — For the outer wall.
The order here is dictated by the directions of the gates.
Elsewhere he sets up the group Ea, Sin, Shamash, Nabu,
Ramman, Nin-ib, and their consorts.
1 Cylinder, 11. 67-73. 2 Ea's consort ; see above, p. 231.
238 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
Sennacherib's fuller group consists of Ashur, Sin, Shamash,
Bel (i.e., Marduk), Nabu, Nergal, Ishtar of Nineveh, and Ishtar
of Arbela — only eight. But at the close of one of his building
inscriptions l he invokes some twenty deities, adding to these
eight, Nusku, Khani, Gaga, Sherua, Nin-gal, a god Azag-sir,
and Nin-ib under three different forms; but it is evident
that most of these are added to give effect and solemnity.
They do not form part of the active pantheon. His successor,
Esarhaddon, sets up various groups. At one time he enumer-
ates Ashur, Sin, Shamash, Nabu, Marduk, Ishtar of Nineveh,
Ishtar of Arbela ; at another he prefers different combinations
of these gods. Ashurbanabal is more consistent than most of
the Assyrian rulers, and furnishes at the same time the best
list. While he, too, frequently mentions only a few deities,
grouping three or four together, his longer series consists, with
but one or two exceptions, invariably of the following, and
who always occur in the same order: Ashur, Belit, Sin, Sham-
ash, Ramman, Bel (?>., Marduk), Nabu, Ishtar of Nineveh,
the queen of Kidmuru, Ishtar of Arbela, Nin-ib, Nergal, and
Nusku — thirteen in all. Of these, as we have seen, only
some were actively worshipped at all times in Assyria ; as for
the others, the popularity of their cult varied from age to age,
now being actively carried on under the stimulus afforded by
the erection or improvement of an edifice sacred to the god,
and again falling into comparative insignificance ; but formally,
at least, all these gods were regarded at all times as forming
part of the pantheon of the 'great gods.' The testimony of
Ashurbanabal thus becomes valuable as a proof that to the
latest days of the Assyrian monarchy, the attachment to these
gods was still strong enough to merit the formal acknowledg-
ments of the king to them on all occasions, and that through
their combined aid the glorious achievements of the past and
present were attained.
1 Meissner-Rost, Bauinschriftcn San/icrib's, p. 99.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE NEO-BABYLONIAN PERIOD.
WHEN upon the fall of the Assyrian empire, in 606 B.C.,
Babylonia regained her full measure of independence, Marduk
once more obtained undisputed sway at the head of the pan-
theon. True, so far as Babylonia was concerned, Marduk was
always the acknowledged head, but during the period that
Assyria held Babylonia in a more or less rigid form of subjec-
tion it was inevitable that Ashur should lower the prestige of
Marduk. When the kings of Assyria paid their respects to
Marduk, it was always as second in rank to Ashur ; and, what is
more, they claimed Marduk and the other gods of Babylonia as
their own, and as upholders of their own sovereignty. When
the kings feel impelled to invade the southern 'districts, they
not only claim to be under the protection of the Babylonian
gods, but they carry these gods with them into the land to be
invaded. ' Bel and the gods of Akkad leave Assyria and go to
Babylonia ' is the official term in which a campaign against
Babylonia is described.1 In the eyes of the Babylonians such a
haughty assumption on the part of the Assyrians must have been
regarded as humiliating to Marduk, Nabu, and their associates.
The state of affairs changed when Nebopolassar at the end
of the seventh century once more claimed independent control
over Babylonia. Marduk triumphs over Ashur. He is once
more the great god, lord of gods, supreme king of the Igigi,
the father of the Anunnaki — all titles that the Assyrians were
fond of heaping upon Ashur. One feels the anxiety of Nebo-
1 Babylonian Chronicle B, col. iv. 11. 34, 35.
240 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
polassar to emphasize the new order of things by attributing
once more to Marduk what was formerly claimed for Ashur.
The successor of Nebopolassar, the great Nebuchadnezzar, con-
tinues the policy of his father. He neglects no opportunity for
exalting Marduk as the king, the creator, the leader of the gods,
the lord of everything, the merciful one, the light of the gods, the
all-wise. Nabu shares the honors with Marduk. Nebopolassar,
indeed, accords to Nabu an equal share, and he does not hesitate
at times to place the name Nabu before that of Marduk.1 He
does not speak of Nabu as the son of Marduk, and seems to be
at particular pains to emphasize the equality of Nabu with
Marduk. In this respect Nebopolassar presents a contrast to
Hammurabi, who, it will be recalled, made an attempt to sup-
press the Nabu cult.2 Nebopolassar, however, does not go to
the extent of endeavoring to make Nabu supersede Marduk.
He contents himself with manifesting his partiality for the
former, and it is probably no accident that both his official
name and that of his son contain the god Nabu as one of
their elements, and not Marduk. One is inclined to suspect
that this popularity of the Nabu cult is a trace of Assyrian
influence. But whatever may have been Nebopolassar's inten-
tion in exalting Nabu at the cost of Marduk, Nebuchadnezzar
restores the old relationship between the two. For him Nabu
is again merely the son of Marduk, and he honors Nabu in this
capacity. Like the Assyrian Nabu, the god places the sceptre
in the king's hands, but he is, after all, only the supreme
messenger of Marduk. In the closing days of the Babylonian
monarchy a more serious attempt, it would appear, was made
to displace Marduk. Nabonnedos formed the design of replac-
ing both Marduk and Nabu by the cult of Shamash. He incurs
the ill-will of the priests by paying much more attention to the
restoration of the various Shamash temples in Babylonia than
1 Zeitschrift fiir Assyriologie, ii. 72, col. i. 11. 2, 3.
2 See above, p. 127.
THE NEO-BABYLONIAN PERIOD. 241
would appear to be consistent with devotion to Marduk. Cyrus,
therefore, in his conquest of Babylonia, sets up the claim of
being the savior of Marduk's honor.1
The Neo-Babylonian period may properly be designated as
a religious age. The rulers, anxious to manifest their gratitude
to the gods, and prompted in part, no doubt, by the desire to
emulate the glorious architectural achievements of the Assyrian
monarchs, devote themselves assiduously to the improvement
of the great temples of the city of Babylon, and to the restora-
tion or enlargement of those scattered throughout the country.
Nebopolassar sets the example in this respect, which is consid-
erably improved upon by Nebuchadnezzar. Over forty temples
and shrines are mentioned in the latter's inscriptions as having
been improved, enlarged, or restored by him ; and the last king
of Babylonia, Nabonnedos, endeavors to continue this royal
policy of temple-building. In this respect the Neo-Babylonian
rulers present a contrast to the Assyrian rulers, who were
much more concerned in rearing grand edifices for themselves.
While the gods were not neglected in Assyria, one hears much
more of the magnificent palaces erected by the kings than of
temples and shrines. In fact, as compared with Babylonia,
Assyria was poor in the number of her temples. The chief
sanctuaries to which the Neo-Babylonian kings devoted them-
selves were, in the first instance, E-sagila of Babylon and
E-zida of Borsippa. Nebopolassar and his successors are
fond of giving themselves the title of ' beautifier of E-Sagila
and E-zida.' In these great temples sacred to Marduk and
Nebo, there were shrines to Sarpanitum, Tashmitum, Nusku,
and Ea, which also engaged the energies of the rulers.
After Babylon came the old sanctuaries in the ancient reli-
gious centers of the south, — the temples to Shamash and his
consort at Sippar and Larsa, the temples to Sin at Ur and Har-
1 See a recent paper by Tiele, on " Cyrus and the Babylonian Religion," in the
Proceedings of the Amsterdam Academy, 1896.
242 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
ran, to the old Ishtar or Anunit at Agade, to Nana in Erech.
Thirdly, the cities of Babylon and Borsippa, to which the
kings, especially Nebuchadnezzar, are deeply attached, were
enriched with many sanctuaries more or less imposing, sacred
to a variety of deities. So Shamash, Sin, Nin-makh, — i.e., the
great lady, or Ishtar, — Nin-khar-shag, Gula, also appearing as
Nin-Karrak,1 have their temples in Babylon, while Ramman
has one in Borsippa, and Gula no less than three sanctuaries
— perhaps only small chapels — in Borsippa. Fourthly, there
are sanctuaries of minor importance in other quarters of Baby-
lonia. Among these we find mention of the improvement of
sanctuaries to the local deity of Marad, whom Nebuchadnezzar
simply calls Lugal-Marad a, z>., king of Marad, to Bel-sarbi, or
Shar-sarbi, in Baz, — perhaps a title of Nergal, — to Nin-ib in
Dilbat, to Ramman in Kumari(?).
Most of these sanctuaries are referred to in the inscriptions
of Nebuchadnezzar — a circumstance which, in connection with
the many other gods whom he invokes on various occasions,
points to a great revival of ancient cults in his days. Some of
these cults had never reached any degree of importance prior
to his time. Hence it happens that we come across deities in
his inscriptions of whom no mention is found elsewhere. It is
probable that such gods were purely local deities, some of them,
if not many, being at the same time personifications of the pow-
ers or phenomena of nature, while others may be familiar gods,
masquerading under strange attributes. Unfortunately most of
these gods are written in ideographic fashion, so that we cannot
be certain of the reading of their names. Among these are
Nin-lil-anna, a goddess called by Nebuchadnezzar * the lady
who loves me,'2 and Tur-lil-en,3 a god who is described as
1 For the identity of Nin-Karrak and Gula, see the ' Shurpu ' Incantation Series,
iv. 1. 86 (ed. Zimmern), where the former is called the ' great physician,' — the epithet
peculiar to Gula. 2 East India House Inscription, col. iv. 1. 44.
3 VR. 34, col. ii. 1. 26, or simply Tur-lil (East India House Inscription, col. iv. 1. 49,
not Tur-e, as Winckler, Keils Bibl. 3, 2, 18, reads).
THE NEO-DABYLONIAN rEKlOD. 243
'breaking the weapons of enemies.' As for Bel-sarbi, or Shar-
sarbi, the god of Baz,1 they appear to be titles rather than,
names. Dibbarra, Nergal and his consort Laz, and Zamama
are also included in the pantheon of Nebuchadnezzar.
In regard to none of these deities do we find any conceptions
different from those developed in the period of Hammurabi,
any more than in the conceptions of those gods who occupy a
more prominent place in the pantheon. Shamash is the judge,
Sin is the wise one, Ramman the thunderer, and so on through-
out the list. It was not a period favorable to the production of
new religious thought, but only to the more or less artificial
revival of old cults.
With the conquest of Babylonia by Cyrus in 539 B.C., we
reach the close of the period to be embraced in a history of the
'Babylonian-Assyrian religion. True, the Marduk and Nabu
cults were upheld by the Persian rulers, and the policy of the
latter in not disturbing the religious status was continued by
the Greeks when they in turn succeeded the Persians in their
control of Babylonia, but the presence of strange civilizations
with totally different religious trains of thought was bound to
affect the character of the old faith, and in time to threaten its
existence. At all events, it ceases to have any interest for us.
There are no further lines of development upon which it enters.
The period of decay, of slow but sure decay, has set in. The
cuneiform writing continues to be used till almost the begin-
ning of our era, and so the religious cults draw out their
existence to a late period ; but as the writing and the civiliza-
tion yield before new forces that entirely alter the character
of Oriental culture, so also the religion, after sinking ever
1 /..f of Marduk.
4 This weapon plays a part in some of the Babylonian myths.
5 The weapon is miraculous — it kills instantly, but without causing blood to flow.
The reference is to the lightning stroke.
THE PRAYERS AND HYMNS, 307
complementary character of each two lines. The whole hymn
was probably adapted in this way to public worship.
Marduk, by virtue of his relationship to Ea, and by his inde-
pendent position as the supreme god of Babylon, occupies a
middle ground between Shamash, Ea, and Nusku on the one
side, and such gods as Sin and Nebo on the other. Some of
the hymns addressed to him end in incantations ; others form
part of the cult arranged for solemn occasions, when the praises
of the god were sung in connection with sacrificial offerings.
In confirmation of the theory as to the relationship between
magical texts and hymns above advanced, we find scarcely any
difference in the grade of religious thought between these two
classes of Marduk hymns. Both are equally distinguished by
their fine diction. A hymn which celebrates Marduk as the
restorer of the dead to life, and yet forms part of an incanta-
tion text, reads : l
O merciful one among the gods !
O merciful one who loveth to give life to the dead !
Marduk, king of heaven and earth,
King of Babylon, lord of E-sagila,
King of E-zida, lord of E-makh-tila,
Heaven and earth are thine.
The whole of heaven and earth are thine,
The spell affording life is thine,
The breath of life is thine,
The pure incantation of the ocean2 is thine,
Mankind, the black-headed race,3
The living creatures, as many as there are, and exist on earth,
As many as there are in the four quarters,
The Igigi of the legions of heaven and earth,
As many as there are,
To thee do they incline (?).
Thou art the shedu, thou art the lamassu,
Thou restorest the dead to life, thou bringest things to completeness (?).
O merciful one among the gods !
1 IVR. 29, no. i. 2 Perhaps a reference to Ea.
3 Name for the inhabitants of Babylonia, and then used in general for mankind,
Cf. p. 281.
308 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION. .
One scarcely detects any difference between such a hymn
and those to Sin and Nebo. The lines are adapted, like the
other specimens, for recitation by two parties. The last line
forms a solemn close to a section of this hymn. In the section
that follows, the same character is maintained till we approach
the close, when the exorciser steps in and asks Marduk to
Expel the disease of the sick man,
The plague, the wasting disease . . .
and the various classes of demons, utukku, alu, etc., are intro-
duced.
Compare this now with some passages in a prayer addressed
to Marduk : L
A resting-place for the lord (of E-sagila) is thy house.
A resting-place for the lord of E-makh-tila is thy house.
E-sagila, the house of thy sovereignty, is thy house.
May the city speak ' rest '2 to thee — thy house.
May Babylon speak peace to thee3 — thy house.
May the great Anu, the father of the gods, tell thee when there will be
rest.
May the great mountain, the father of the gods,4 tell thee when there will
be rest.
Look favorably upon thy house,
Look favorably upon the city, O lord of rest !
May he restore to his place the bolt Babylon, the enclosure E-sagila, the
edifice E-zida,5
May the gods of heaven and earth speak to thee, O lord of rest.
Here we have specific references to Marduk. Everything
about the city of Babylon is associated with the god. The
great gods pay homage to Marduk. The whole hymn, con-
ceived as a royal prayer to the god, clearly formed part of the
ritual prepared for the great Marduk temple at Babylon. The
1 IVR. 1 8, no. 2. Badly preserved. 3 /.^ salute thee.
2 I.e., call upon thee to be pacified. * Bel.
5 The strongly fortified city of Babylon is compared to a bolt and the temple to
an enclosure.
THE PRAYERS AND HYMNS. 309
hymn closes, as so many others, with a prayer on behalf of
the king. The god is asked
To establish firmly the foundation of the throne of his sovereignty,
So that he may nourish (?) mankind to distant days.
* Rest,' in the liturgical language, implied cessation of anger.
Marduk, as the * lord of rest,' was the pacified deity ; and since it
was a necessary condition in obtaining an answer to petitions
that the god should be free from anger, the city, the temple,
and the gods are represented as unitedly speaking to him —
appealing to him to be at ' rest.' The production might, there-
fore, be called a * pacification hymn.' The god has shown his
anger by bringing on misfortune of some shape. His divine
associates are no less anxious than his human subjects to
pacify the mighty god.
Passing on to another god, a hymn to the storm-god, Ram-
man, enables us to specify the great terror that the god, as the
general source of disturbances in the heavenly phenomena,
inspired. The god is addressed l as
The lord who in his anger holds the heavens in his control,
Ramman in his wrath the earth has shaken.
The mighty mountain — thou dost overturn it.
At his anger, at his wrath,
The gods of heaven mount up to heaven,2
The gods of earth enter the earth.
Into the foundation of heaven Shamash 3 enters.
The illustrations adduced will suffice to show the manner in
which the Babylonians conceived the relationship between man-
kind and the gods. The element of fear alternated with that
of love, and no matter how near the gods were felt to be, one
was never certain of their good will.
Another feature of some of these hymns which calls for
special mention is the introduction of the deity as himself or
l IV R. 28, no. 2. 2 7>.} fly to a safe piace.
3 /.£., the sun is obscured.
310 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
herself taking part in the dialogue. A hymn addressed to
Ishtar, as the morning and evening star,1 belongs to this class.2
It begins with a glorification of the goddess as the source of
light, of being, and of earthly blessings. The worshipper
speaks :
O light of heaven who arises like fire over the earth, who art fixed in the
earth,
Thou art exalted in strength like the earth.
As for thee, a just path be graciously granted to thee
When thou enterest the house of man.
A hyena on the hunt for a young lamb art thou,
A restless lion art thou.
A destructive handmaid, the beauty of heaven,
A handmaid is Ishtar, the beauty of heaven,
Who causest all being to emanate, O beauty of heaven,
Associate (?) of the sun, O beauty of heaven !
At this point the goddess speaks, through the officiating
priest, who acts as the mediator :
For determining oracles 3 I have been established, in perfection have I been
established.
For determining oracles of my father Sin, I have been established, in per-
fection have I been established.
For determining oracles of my brother Shamash, I have been established,
in perfection have I been established.
Me has my father Sin fixed, to determine oracles I have been established,
Shining anew in heaven, for determining oracles I have been established, in
perfection have I been established.
From the regular repetition of the refrain at the end of each
line, one is tempted to conclude that these utterances of the
goddess were to be recited by an officiating priest with the
assistance of a chorus of priests, to whom the refrain was
assigned, or it may be that the lines were alternately recited by
1 See above, p. 84.
2 Delitzsch, Assyrische Lesestucke (3d edition), pp. 134-136.
3 The portents taken through observation of the position of Ishtar or Venus in the
heavens were of especial value.
THE PRAYERS AND HYMNS. 311
the priest and the chorus. In the section that follows, this
alternative character of the lines is more clearly indicated :
Full of delight is my majesty, full of delight is my supremacy,
Full of delight do 1 as a goddess walk supreme.
Ishtar, the goddess of morning am I,
Ishtar, the goddess of evening am I,
(1 am) Ishtar, — to open the lock of heaven belongs to my supremacy.
Heaven I destroy, earth I devastate,1 — such is my supremacy.
The destroyer of heaven, the devastator of the earth, — such is my majesty.
To rise up out of the foundation of heaven,
Whose fame shines among the habitation of men, — such is my supremacy.
Queen of heaven that on high and below is invoked, — such is my supre-
macy.
The mountain I sweep away altogether, — such is my supremacy.
The destroyer of the mountain walls am I, their great foundation am I,
— such is my supremacy.
The hymn closes with a prayer that the anger of the god be
appeased :
May thy heart be at rest, thy liver2 be pacified.
By the great lord Anu, may thy heart be at rest.
By the lord, the great mountain Bel, may thy liver be pacified.
O goddess, mistress of heaven, may thy heart be at rest.
O supreme mistress of heaven, may thy liver be pacified.
O supreme mistress of the E-anna,3 may thy heart be at rest.
O supreme mistress of the land of Erech, may thy liver be pacified.
O supreme mistress of the shining Erech, may thy heart be at rest.
O supreme mistress of the mountain of the universe, may thy liver be pacified.
O supreme mistress, queen of E-tur-kalama,4 may thy heart be at rest.
O supreme mistress, queen of Babylon, may thy liver be pacified.
O supreme mistress, whose name is Nana, may thy heart be at rest.
O mistress of the house, lady of the gods, may thy liver be pacified.
1 Phrases introduced to illustrate the power, not the function, of Ishtar.
2 The liver as the seat of the emotions.
3 J.c., house of heaven. Name of Ishtar's temple at Erech.
4 /.£., court of the universe. Name of one of Ishtar's temples.
CHAPTER XVIII.
PENITENTIAL PSALMS.
IT will be recalled that both in the Ishtar hymn and in the one
to Marduk above quoted, great stress is laid upon pacifying the
deity addressed. Starting from the primitive conception that
misfortunes were a manifestation of divine anger, the Babylo-
nians never abandoned the belief that transgressions could
be atoned for only by appeasing the anger of the deity. But
within this limitation, an ethical spirit was developed among the
Babylonians that surprises us by its loftiness and comparative
purity. Instead of having recourse merely to incantation
formulas, the person smitten with disease or pursued by ill
fortune would turn in prayer to some god at whose instigation
the evil has come and appeal for the pacification of the divine
wrath. But while the origin of the so-called penitential psalms
is thus closely bound up with the same order of thought that
gave rise to the incantation texts, no less significant is the
divorce between the two classes of compositions that begins
already at an early stage of the literary period. The incanta-
tions, it is true, may be combined with compositions that be-
long to a higher order of religious thought. We have seen
that they have been so combined, and yet the dividing line
between the two is also sharply marked. Zimmern, to whom,
more than to any one else, the interpretation of these peniten-
tial psalms is due, has suggested1 that national misfortunes
rather than private grievances may have given an impetus
to this class of literary productions. It is true that historical
references are found in some of the hymns, and it is also signifi-
1 Babylonische Busspsalmen, pp. i, 2.
PENITENTIAL PSALMS. 313
cant that not only do these psalms occasionally embody a
prayer for the king, — thus giving to them a national rather
than a personal character, — but the kings are called upon in
times of distress to accompany their libations to the gods with
the recitation of a ' lament to quiet the heart,' l as the Babylo-
nians called this class of hymns.
One can easily see how such events as defeat in war would
be ascribed to divine wrath, and not to the workings of evil
spirits or witches ; and while the personal tone that pervades
most of the penitential psalms makes them applicable to condi-
tions affecting the individual as well as the nation, the peculiar
fitness of such psalms for occasions of national importance was
a powerful factor in bringing about their sharp separation from
the incantation formulas.
Just as in the hymns we found that the mere contemplation
of the attributes of the gods, apart from the manifestation of
these attributes in any particular instance, led to a loftier
interpretation of the relationship existing between the gods
and mankind, so the thought that evil was due in the last
instance to the anger of some god led to greater emphasis
being laid upon this relationship. The anger of the god
prompted both the individual and the nation to greater zeal in
securing the deity's love. To an even greater extent than in
the hymns is the element of love introduced into the penitential
psalms, and when not directly expressed, is so clearly implied
as to form the necessary complement to the conception of
the divine wrath. These psalms indeed show the religious
and ethical thought of Babylonia at its best. Their ethical
phase manifests itself more particularly in the conception of
sin which is unfolded in them. The misfortunes of life, more
especially those which could not so readily be ascribed to the
presence of evil spirits, filled the individual with his sense of
guilt. In some way, known or unknown to him, he must have
1 /.*., of the deity.
314 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
offended the deity. The thought whether the deity was justified
in exercising his wrath did not trouble him any more than the
investigation of the question whether the punishment was
meted out in accordance with the extent of the wrong com-
mitted. It was not necessary for the deity to be just ; it was
sufficient that some god felt himself to be offended, whether
through the omission of certain rights or through an error in
the performance of rites or what not. The two facts which
presented themselves with overpowering force to the penitent
were the anger of the deity and the necessity of appeasing
that anger. Beyond this conclusion the Babylonians and
Assyrians did not go, but this reasoning also sufficed to bring
the conviction home to him that his misfortunes were the result
of some offence. The man afflicted was a sinner, and the cor-
ollary to this position was that misfortunes come in consequence
of sin. Through the evils alone which overtook one, it became
clear to -an individual that he had sinned against the deity.
Within this circle of ideas the penitential psalms of Babylonia
move. They do not pass wholly outside of the general Semitic
view that sin is a 'missing 'of the mark,' — a failure, whether
voluntary or involuntary, to comply with what was demanded
by the deity under whose protection one stood. But one
became conscious of having 'missed the mark' only when evil in
some form — disease, ill luck, deluge, drought, defeat, destruc-
tion, storms, pecuniary losses, family discords, the death of
dear ones — came to remind the individual or the nation of the
necessity of securing the favor of the deity again. Still within
this sphere there were great possibilities of ethical progress,
and some of the Babylonian psalms breathe a spirit and are
couched in a diction that have prompted a comparison with the
Biblical psalms.1 Thrown, as the sinner felt himself to be,
upon the mercy of the angry deity, it mattered little what had
1 See an article by Francis Brown, " The Religious Poetry of Babylonia," Presby-
terian Review, 1888.
PENITENTIAL PSALMS. 315
called forth this wrath or whether the deity was conceived as
acting in accordance with just ideas. The thought that would
engage the entire attention of the penitent would be the
appeasement of his god. To effect this, he would not stop
short at exaggerating his own guilt. He would manifest a
contrition of spirit that would not be the less sincere for being,
perhaps, out of proportion to the character of his sin when
judged by our standards.
Corresponding to the humiliation of mind to which he would
be brought, his longing to be reconciled to the offended deity
would be intensified. He would address this deity in terms of
strong endearment, magnify his or her powers, as the case may
be, and belittle himself and his own worth. The result of such
a mental discipline could not but react healthfully on the mind
of the penitent. The penitent would arise from his prayer
with a more spiritual conception of the relationship existing
between himself and his god. Not appealing for any material
benefits for the time being, but concerned only with appeasing
the divine wrath, the single burden of his prayer " that the
heart of the offended god might be ' at rest ' " would be marked
by an intensity all the stronger for being at least comparatively
pure of grosser associations.
All these features combined serve to make the penitential
psalms the flower of the religious literature of Babylonia. The
productions not only represent the highest stage which religious
thought reached in the Euphrates Valley, but, in a certain sense,
constitute the only productions in cuneiform literature that have
a permanent literary value.
We find these compositions marked by a third feature which,
however, as we have already seen, is not peculiar to them, -
the dialogue form. In order to bring about a reconciliation
with an angered god, three personages were necessary in the
drama, — the god, the penitent, and, thirdly, the priest, acting as
mediator between the sinner and his deity. The deity, accord-
316 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
ing to Babylonian notions, could not be approached directly,
but only through his chosen messengers, — the priests. This
idea of mediation, as against the immediate approach, was so
pronounced as to lead, as we have seen, to the frequent asso-
ciation with a god of a second divine personage, — his son or
his servant, — through whom the petitions of mankind were
brought to the throne of grace.1 The priest was similarly con-
ceived as the messenger of the god, and, by virtue of this office,
endowed with a certain measure, at least, of divine power. He
was, in the full sense, the god's vicar on earth, — his repre-
sentative, who could, as we saw in the Ishtar hymn, speak in
the first person on behalf of the god.2 The more manifest
mission of the priest, however, was to intercede on behalf of
the mass of mankind. Accepting the sacrifices offered by the
laity, it was he that secured their gracious acceptance on the
part of the deity. It was the priest, as we have seen, who
instructed the individual to pronounce the magic formulas that
would be appropriate to his case ; and just as in the incantation
texts the priest accompanied the recitation of the formulas
with an appeal of his own, so in the penitential psalms, he
stood at the penitent's side, instructing him what to say,
and emphasizing the confessions of the penitent by an as-
surance to the deity of the sincerity of the penitent, coupled
with a fervent request that the prayer for ' appeasement,'
which involved all that we mean by forgiveness, be graciously
answered.
It is unfortunate that the text of none of the penitential
psalms is perfectly preserved. We must, therefore, content
ourselves in our illustrations with more or less imperfect
extracts. It is to be noted, too, that often the exact meaning
1 Compare the relationship existing between Ea and Marduk, noted above, p. 276.
Similarly, Nusku was the messenger to Bel. See p. 279.
2 On the wider aspects of this conception of the priest among ancient nations, see
Frazer, The Golden Bough, passim.
PENITENTIAL PSALMS. 317
of the lines escapes us, owing to the obscurity of terms
employed or to the gaps in the texts themselves. With few
exceptions the psalms appear in the double style characteristic
of so large a section of the religious literature of the Babylon-
ians, the * ideographic ' composition being accompanied by a
phonetic transliteration. The fact, however, that we have at
least one text (IVR. 59, no. 2) in the phonetic style alone, is
sufficient to show that no special weight is to be attached to
the supposed ' bilingual ' character of the others. This double
style is not a feature that need be taken into account in deter-
mining the age of this class of compositions. The historical
references in some of them have prompted Zimmern to give
his partial assent to the opinion which would assign them, or
some of them, to the age of Hammurabi. Beyond such refer-
ences, which are not as clear as they might be, we have no
data through which their age can be determined ; but so far as
-the ideas which they convey and the religious spirit manifested
in them are concerned, there is no reason why they should not
be assigned to as early a period as some of the incantation
texts. It is characteristic of the Babylonian, as, in a measure,
of all religions, that the old and the new go hand in hand;
that more advanced conceptions, so far from setting aside
primitive ones, can live and thrive in the same atmosphere
with the latter. We may, therefore, assume that penitential
psalms existed as early as 2000 B.C. Whether any of these
that have been preserved go back to that period is another
question. One gains the impression from a careful study of
them that most of these, if not all, belong to a somewhat later
period, nearer to the first millenium than to the second mil-
lenium before our era. The Assyrians adopted these psalms,
as they did the other features of the religious literature of
the Babylonians, and enriched the collection by productions
of their own which, however, follow closely the Babylonian
models.
318 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
A particularly beautiful psalm, judging from the portion
preserved, represents the penitent addressing his goddess —
probably Ishtar — as follows : l
I, thy servant, full of sighs, call upon thee ;
The fervent prayer of him who has sinned do thou accept.
If thou lookest upon a man, that man lives.
O all-powerful mistress of mankind,
Merciful one, to whom it is good to turn, who hears 2 sighs !
At this point the priest takes up the thread to emphasize the
appeal of the penitent by adding to it his own. He prays to
the goddess:
His god and goddess being angry with him, he calls upon thee,
Turn towards him thy countenance, take hold of his hand.
The penitent continues :
Besides thee, there is no guiding deity.
I implore thee to look upon me and hear my sighs.
Proclaim pacification,3 and may thy soul be appeased.
How long, O my mistress, till thy countenance be turned towards me.
Like doves, I lament, I satiate myself with sighs.
The priest once more sums up the penitent's prayer:
With pain and ache, his soul is full of sighs;
Tears he weeps, he pours forth lament (?).
A trait which appears in many of these psalms is the ano-
nymity beneath which the offended deity is veiled. His or her
name is often not mentioned, the deity being simply referred to
as god or goddess, and at times it is left doubtful whether the
sinner has ' sinned ' against the demands of a god or a goddess,
or against several deities. This feature is not without signifi-
1 Zimmern, no. i ; IVR. 29, no. 5.
2 Lit., ' accepts.'
3 In the original appears a phrase which signifies literally ' when at last.' — an
abbreviation for ' when will there be rest,' and which has become a kind of technical
phrase to indicate, again, the hoped-for pacification of the deity.
PENITENTIAL PSALMS. 319
cance. In some cases, no doubt, the name of the specific deity
was to be added by the penitent,1 but in others this does not
appear to be indicated. The anonymity is the natural result
of the conception of sin involved in these productions. The
sinner, becoming conscious of his guilt only as a conclusion
drawn from the fact of his suffering from some misfortune,
could only surmise, but never be entirely certain, wherein his
offence consisted or what deity he had offended. In the case
of the recital of incantation formulas, the question as to the
offended deity was a minor one, and may indeed, at an earlier
stage of thought, not have entered into consideration at all.
This anonymity, therefore, which characterized the penitential
psalms was not due to any advance in thought, but one can
easily see how it led to such an advance. What may be called
the personal aspects of the gods were less accentuated. The
very fact that no particular god could in many cases be speci-
fied entailed, as a consequence, that the views held of the gods
gained in abstractness. The general thought of one's depend-
ence upon these supernatural powers, without further specifica-
tion, superinduced a grouping of the gods under a common
aspect, as the directors of man's fate. In short, the notion of
deity, not indeed as a unit, but as a collective idea, begins to
dawn in Babylonia. At the same time we must beware of
exaggerating the force that this notion acquired. There is not
the slightest trace of any approach to real monotheism in Baby-
lonia, nor can it even be said that the penitential psalms con-
stitute a bridge leading to such an approach. The strong hold
that astrology at all times, and up to the latest periods, had
upon both the popular and the educated mind was in itself
sufficient to prevent the Babylonians from passing, to any con-
siderable degree, beyond the stage in which the powers of
nature were personified and imbued with real life. The peni-
1 The colophon to one of them (IVR. 10, Reverse 52) declares that the production
in question is a " penitential psalm for any god whatsoever."
320 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
tential psalms presuppose this belief as much as any other
branch of the religious literature; they merely illustrate this
belief in the purest form of which, in the course of its develop-
ment, it was capable.
A psalm in which this anonymity of the offended god is
more strongly brought out begins as follows.1 The penitent
prays :
O that the wrath of my lord's heart return to its former condition,2
O that the god who is unknown be pacified,
O that the goddess unknown be pacified,
O that the god known or unknown 3 be pacified,
O that the goddess known or unknown be pacified,
O that the heart of my god be pacified,
O that the god or goddess known or unknown be pacified !
The penitent, it will be seen, does not know whether it is a
god or a goddess whom he has offended. He therefore appeals
to both. He goes on to say that he is not even aware of the
sin that he has committed:
The sin that I have committed I know not.
And yet he must have sinned or he would not suffer as he
does. In addition to his confession, he imposes the hardship
of fasting upon himself by way of penance :
Food I have not eaten ;
Clear water I have not drunk.
The reference to fasting occurs so frequently in these psalms
that one is tempted to conclude that such a bodily castigation
was demanded by the ritual of the Babylonians : 4
1 IVR. 10. Zimmern, no. 4.
2 /.£., be pacified.
3 /.£., ' whoever he may be,' as we would say.
4 Among many nations fasting is resorted to as a means of atonement. It must
have been common among the Hebrews during the period of the Babylonian exile —
perhaps through Babylonian influence. See Isaiah, Iviii. 3.
PENITENTIAL PSALMS. 321
An offence have I unwittingly committed against my god,
A sin against my goddess unwittingly been guilty of,
O lord, my sins are many, great are my transgressions,
( ) my god, my sins are many, great are my transgressions,
0 my goddess, my sins are many, great are my transgressions,
Known or unknown god, my sins are many, great are my transgressions.
Again the sinner protests his innocence of the wrong he has
done. He only knows that
The lord has looked upon me in the rage of his heart,
A god has visited me in his wrath,
A goddess has become angry with me and brought me into pain,
A known or unknown god has oppressed me,
A known or unknown goddess has brought sorrow upon me.
1 seek for help, but no one takes my hand.
I weep, but no one approaches me.
I call aloud, but no one hears me.
Full of woe, I grovel in the dust without looking up.
To my merciful god I turn, speaking with sighs.
The feet of my goddess I kiss imploringly (?).
To the known or unknown god do I speak with sighs,
To the known or unknown goddess do I speak with sighs.
O lord, look upon me, accept my lament,
O goddess, look upon me, accept my lament,
O known or unknown goddess, look upon me, accept my lament !
In this strain he proceeds for some time, until he is inter-
rupted by the priest, who briefly adds:
O lord, do not cast aside thy servant,
Overflowing with tears,1 take him by the hand !
The penitent closes the prayer by another and still more
earnest appeal:
The sin I have committed change to mercy,
The wrong I have done, may the wind carry off.
Tear asunder my many transgressions as a garment.
My god, my sins are seven times seven,2 forgive me my sins.
1 Lit., rushing water. 2 /.^ very numerous.
322 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION,
My goddess, my sins are seven times seven, forgive me my sins.
Known or unknown god, my sins are seven times seven, forgive me my
sins.
Known or unknown goddess, my sins are seven times seven, forgive me
my sins.
Forgive me my sins and I will humble myself before thee.
May thy heart be glad x as the heart of the mother that has given birth,
May thy heart be glad as that of a mother who has given birth, as that of
a father who has begotten a child.
The proportions between the parts taken by the priest and
penitent vary considerably. In the one quoted, the priest is
only incidentally introduced ; in others,2 it is the penitent who
plays the minor part. The penitential ritual varied accord-
ingly ; but since we cannot discover here, as we could in the
case of the incantation texts, the special occasions for the
variations, except for those that contain historical references,
one must suppose that they could be used indifferently at the
choice of the penitent or the priest. It is probable that at one
time a large collection of such psalms was made in Babylonia,
and that those we have represent compositions made from the
rituals of various temples. In one psalm we have a distinct
statement from which we may conclude that it belonged to the
E-sagila temple at Babylon. Only a portion of it is preserved.3
It is interesting, also, because of a reference to a dream that it
contains, and which the god of Babylon is called upon to con-
vert into a favorable sign for the petitioner. Zimmern is of
the opinion that the hymn may have been an evening prayer,
but it seems more satisfactory to place it merely in the general
category of penitential psalms, with a request for a sign that
the deity has been appeased. The sinner, after describing his
woeful state, —
Instead of food, I eat bitter tears,
Instead of date-wine, I drink the waters of misery,
l Be pacified. 2 Eg., IV R. 61. . » Ib. 59, no. 2.
PENITENTIAL PSALMS. 323
For my drink I have bitter waters,
Instead of clothes, I am enveloped in sin,1 —
proceeds to a fervent appeal :
O my god who art angry with me, accept my prayer,
O my goddess who art wroth with me, accept my appeal,
Accept my appeal, may thy liver be at rest !
My lord in mercy and compassion [look upon me ?]
Who guides the span of life against the encroachments (?) of death, accept
my prayer !
0 my goddess, look upon me, accept my appeal ;
May my sins be forgiven,2 my transgressions be wiped out.
May the ban be loosened, the chain broken,
May the seven winds carry off my sighs.
Let me tear away my iniquity, let the birds carry it to heaven,
Let the fish take off my misfortune, the stream carry it off.
May the beasts of the field take it away from me,
•The flowing waters of the stream wash me clean.
Let me be pure like the sheen of gold.
As a ring (?) of precious stone, may I be precious before thee.
Remove my iniquity, save my soul.
Thy [temple] court I will watch, thy image (?) I will set up.3
Grant to me that I may see a favorable dream,
The dream that I see, let it be favorable,
The dream that I see, let it be unfailing,
The dream that I see, turn it to a favorable [issue].
The god Makhir (?), the god of dreams stand at my head.
Let me enter into E-sagila, the temple of the gods, the house of life.
Commend me to Marduk, the merciful one, for favor,
1 will be subservient to thy greatness, I will exalt thy divinity.
There follows a line from which one may further conclude
that the psalm is one composed for the royal chief of
1 Delitzsch, Assyr, Wortcrbnch, p. 378. In another psalm the penitent says
similarly, " Food I have not eaten, weeping is my nourishment, water I have not
drunk, tears are my drink."
2 Lit., ' released.' The underlying metaphor represents the individual held fast
by sin, just as the demons seize hold of a man.
3 A somewhat puzzling line, but which appears to convey the promise on the part
of the penitent that if forgiven he will observe the rites demanded by the deity.
324 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
Babylonia. It is evidently only a ruler who can assure the
deity that
The inhabitants of my city,1 may they glorify thy power.
We know from the historical texts that previous to a military
engagement the kings were particularly desirous of some sign
from the deity that might serve to encourage the soldiery.
Such a sign was ordinarily a dream. The circumstances,
therefore, seem to point to our psalm being a royal prayer for
forgiveness of transgressions, uttered before some impending
national crisis, in the hope of securing, with the divine pardon,
the protection of the deity who, up to this point in the cam-
paign, must have manifested his displeasure rather than his
favor. More distinct references to national events are found
in another royal penitential psalm : 2
How long, O my mistress, will the mighty foe oppress thy land,
In thy great city Erech famine has settled,
In E-ulbar, the house of thy oracle, blood is poured out like water,
Throughout thy districts he has kindled conflagrations, and poured [fire]
over them in columns (?).3
O my mistress, I am abundantly yoked to misfortune,
0 my mistress, thou hast encompassed me, thou hast brought me into pain,
The mighty foe has trodden me down as a reed,
1 have no judgment, I have no wisdom,
Like a ' dry field ' I am desolate night and day,
I thy servant beseech thee,
May thy heart be at rest, thy liver be pacified.
At times specific requests are inserted into these hymns,
such as release from physical ills. Sickness being, as any
other evil, due to divine anger, the sicfc man combines with his
prayer for forgiveness of the sin of which he is guilty, the hope
that his disease, viewed as the result of his sin, may be removed.
1 Babylon. 2 IVR 19. no. 3 ; Zimmern. no. 5.
3 Like a column. The metaphor is the same as in the Biblical phrase, " column
of smoke."
PENITENTIAL PSALMS. 325
A hymn addressed to Ishtar of Nineveh by Ashurnasirbal, a
king of Assyria,1 is of this character. It begins by an adora-
tion of the goddess, who is addressed as
The producer, the queen of heaven, the glorious lady,
To the one who dwells in E-babbara . . . who hath spread my fame,
To the queen of the gods to whom has been entrusted the commands of
the great gods,
To the lady of Nineveh . .
To the daughter of Sin, the twin-sister of Shamash, ruling over all kingdoms,
Who issues decrees, the goddess of the universe,
To the lady of heaven and earth, who receives prayer, who hearkens to the
petition, who accepts beseeching,
To the merciful goddess who loves righteousness.
The king calls upon Ishtar to listen to his prayers :
Look upon me, O lady, so that through thy turning towards me the heart
of thy servant may become strong.
Ashurnasirbal appeals to the goddess on the ground of what
he has done to promote the glory of the goddess in his land.
He has devoted himself to the service of the goddess. He has
observed the festivals in her honor. He has repaired her
shrines. No less than fourteen images of the goddess were set
up by the king. Nay, more, he claims that before his days
Ishtar was not properly worshipped.
I was without understanding, and did not pray to thy ladyship,
The people of Assyria also lacked judgment, and did not approach thy
divinity ;
But thou, O Ishtar, mighty weapon of the great gods,
By thy grace2 thou didst instruct me, and didst desire me to rule.
The statement that the Ishtar cult was introduced or even
reinstated by Ashurnasirbal can hardly be taken literally ; but
1 Published by Briinnow, Zeits. f. Assyr. v. 66 seq. The king mentions his
father, Shamshi-Ramman, in the hymn. If this is Shamshi-Ramman III., the date
of the hymn would be c. noo B.C.
2 Lit., ' lifting up of thy eyes.'
326 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
it distinctly points to a movement in the days of the dynasty
to which the king belonged, that brought the worship of the
goddess into great prominence.
In return for all that he has done to the house of Ishtar,
the king pleads :
I, Ashurnasirbal, full of affliction, thy worshipper,
Who takes hold of thy divine staff,
Who prays to thy sovereignty,
Look upon me and let me appeal to thy power !
May thy liver be appeased for that which has aroused thy anger ;
Let thy whole heart be strong towards me.
Make my disease come forth and remove my sin,
Let thy mouth, O lady, proclaim forgiveness.
The priestly vassal who worships thee without change,
Grant him mercy and cut off his affliction.
The historical references found in the penitential psalms are
valuable indications, not only for determining the age of these
compositions, but for ascertaining the occasions on which they
were employed. Neither the Babylonian nor the Assyrian
rulers ever reveal to us in their official annals or dispatches
any check that they may have encountered in their careers or
any misfortune that may have occurred to them or to the state.
These psalms tell their own story. They point to seasons of
distress, when recourse had to be taken to appeals to the gods,
accompanied by the confession of wrongs committed. As
against the incantations which are the outcome of the purely
popular spirit, and which are the natural expression of popular
beliefs, the penitential psalms seem to represent a more official
method of appealing to the gods. The advance in religious
thought which these productions signal may, therefore, be due,
in part at least, to a growing importance attached to the relation-
ship existing between the gods and the kingdom as a whole, as
against the purely private pact between a god and his worship-
pers. The use of these psalms by Assyrian rulers, among
PENITENTIAL PSALMS. 327
whom the idea of the kingdom assumes a greater significance
than among the Babylonians, points in this direction. It is sig-
nificant, at all events, that such psalms were also produced in
Assyria ; and while they are entirely modeled upon the earlier
Babylonian specimens, the contribution to the religious litera-
ture thus made in the north must be regarded, not as the
outcome of the extension of the literary spirit prevailing in
Babylonia, but as prompted by a special significance attached
to the penitential ritual in removing the obstacles to the
advancement of the affairs of state.
Despite, therefore, the elevated thought and diction found
in these psalms, there is a close bond existing between them
and the next branch of the religious literature to be taken up, —
the oracles and omens, which similarly stand in close contact
with affairs of state, and to which, likewise, additions, and
indeed, considerable additions, to the stock received from
Babylonia were made by the Assyrian literati.
CHAPTER XIX.
ORACLES AND OMENS.
A STRONG element of magic, we have seen, was always present
in the hymns and prayers of the Babylonians, and even in such
as contained religious sentiments of an elevated and pure char-
acter. The finest prayer has almost invariably tacked on to it
an incantation, or constitutes in itself an incantation. Accom-
panying the prayer were offerings to the deity addressed, or
certain symbolical rites, or both, and the efficacy of the prayer
was supposed to reside partly in the accompanying acts and
partly in the mystic power of the words of the prayer as such.
In large measure this indissoluble association of prayer and
incantation is due to the circumstance that both Babylonians
and Assyrians addressed their deities only when something was
desired of the latter, — the warding off of some evil or the
expectation of some favor. Even in the penitential psalms,
that merit the term ' sublime,' the penitent pours out his soul at
the shrine of grace in order to be released from some misfortune
that has come over him or that is impending. Mere praise
of the gods without any ulterior motive finds no place in the
Babylonian or Assyrian ritual. The closest approach to this
religious attitude may perhaps be seen in the prayers attached
by the kings to their commemorative or dedicatory inscriptions.
One feels that the rulers are impelled to do this from a certain
sense of love and devotion to their protecting deities. Nebu-
chadnezzar's prayers form a conspicuous example of the strength
which pure love and attachment to the gods acquired in Baby-
lonia; but even in these specimens, a request of some kind —
usually for long life and prosperity — is made. The spirituali-
ORACLES AND OMENS. 329
zation of the Babylonian religion has in this way most definite
limitations imposed upon it. There is a point beyond which it
could not go without giving rise to a totally changed conception
of the gods and their relationship to men. Prayer in its higher
form, as the result of an irresistible prompting of the emotions,
without any other purpose than the longing to come into closer
communion with a superior Power, involves such a change in
religious conceptions, and hence is conspicuous in the Babylo-
nian ritual by its absence.
A request of some kind being thus the motive that lies
behind the Babylonian prayers, it follows that the means
taken to ascertain the will or intention of the gods with regard
to that request formed an essential feature of the ritual. Indeed,
to ascertain the will of a deity constituted one of the most
important functions of the priest — perhaps the most important
function. The prayer was of no use unless it was answered,
and the priest alone could tell whether the answer was afforded.
The efforts of the priest were accordingly directed towards
this end — the prognostication of the future. What was the
intention of the deity ? Would the hoped-for deliverance from
evil be realized ? Would the demon of disease leave the body ?
Would the symbolical acts, burning of effigies, loosening of knots,
and the like, have the desired effect ? Upon the success of the
priest in performing this function of prognostication everything
depended, both for himself and for the petitioner.
The natural and indeed necessary complement to the priest
as exerciser is the priest as the forecaster of the future.
Since no one, not even the king, could approach a deity directly,
the mediation of the priest was needed on every occasion of a
religious import. The ordinary means at the disposal of the
priest for ascertaining the divine will or caprice were twofold,
— directly through oracles or indirectly by means of omens
derived from an examination of the sacrifices offered. A com-
plete Babylonian ritual therefore required, besides the appeal
330 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
made by the petitioner through the priests or with their assis-
tance, an incantation introduced in some form, an offering,
certain symbolical acts and omens. The offerings and the
symbolical acts, as a matter of fact, appear to have preceded1
the prayer and the incantation, but in the prayers they are
referred to again, and generally just before the interpretation
of the omens. The omens constituted the ulterior end in view.
Because of the looked-for omens the offering was brought, the
symbolical acts performed, the incantations recited. All these
rites formed the preparation for the grand finale. The wor-
shipper waited anxiously for the decision of the priest. Attached,
therefore, to the prayers we frequently find directions intended
for the priests as to the signs to which his attention should be
directed, certain peculiarities exhibited in parts of the animal
sacrificed from which certain conclusions may be drawn. The
observation of these signs grows to the dimensions of a science
equal in extent to the observation of the heavenly bodies
whose movements, as indeed the whole of the natural world,
were supposed to exert an influence over the fate of mankind.
It does not of course follow that in the case of every prayer
an elaborate ritual was observed. Many of the prayers to the
gods in their present form do not embody omens, as indeed
many contain no reference to offerings - or symbolical acts.
While no conclusion can be drawn from this circumstance,
since the omission may be due to the point of view from which
in a given case a collection of prayers was made by the priest,
still we may well believe that for the exorcising of evil spirits
the utterance of sacred formulas was often considered quite
sufficient. In the earlier stages of the Babylonian religion the
priest's function may have ended when he had exorcised the
demons by means of magic words. The demons were forced to
yield. If they nevertheless held out, so much the worse for
them or — for the priest, who, it was concluded, must have lost
1 See King, Babylonian Magic, p. xxx.
ORACLES AND OMENS. 331
his power over the spirits through some error committed by
him. The resort to omens has wider aspects, as will presently
be shown, than the connection with prayers and offerings, and
a most reasonable view is that omens were first introduced
into prayers on occasions when a worshipper wished to
ascertain the will of a deity for a certain purpose, and
to regulate his own conduct accordingly. In petitioning the
deity a sacrifice was naturally offered. Through the sacrifice,
which was rendered acceptable to the deity by the mediation
of the priest, the desired answer to a question was obtained.
From being resorted to in such instances, omens would
naturally come to form part of the ritual for almost any occa-
sion when a deity was appealed to, both in connection with
incantations and symbolical acts when the omens would form a
supplement to the magic element in the ritual, as well as in
cases where no specific incantations are introduced. In both
cases the omens would constitute the means resorted to for
ascertaining whether the petitioner might look for a favorable
reply to a request proffered or, in a more general way, find out
anything that it may be important for him to know. The occa-
sions for consulting the deity would be of a public or private
character. How far it became customary for the general public
to secure the mediation of a priest for securing aid from the
gods in matters appertaining to personal welfare we have no
means of definitely determining. We find, for example, a son
consulting an oracle on behalf of his father in order to ascer-
tain what day would be favorable for undertaking some building
operation,1 and he receives the answer that the fourth of the
month will be propitious; and so there are other occasions on
which private individuals consult the priests, but in general it
was only on occasions of real distress that an individual would
come to the sanctuary, — to seek relief from bodily ills, to ward
off blows of adversity, to pacify a deity who has manifested his
1 Harper's Assyrian Letters, no. 219.
332 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
or her displeasure. The expense involved — for the worshipper
was not to appear empty-handed — would of itself act as a
deterrent against too frequent visits to a sanctuary.
The public welfare occupied a much larger share in the
Babylonian worship. In order to ensure the safety of the state,
occasions constantly arose when the deities had to be consulted,
It is no accident that so many of the prayers — the hymns and
psalms — contain references to kings and to events that tran-
spired during their reigns. In these references the occasions
for the prayers are to be sought. Remarkable as is the
expression which the consciousness of individual guilt finds
in the religious literature of Babylonia, the anger of the deity
against his land is much more prominently dwelt upon than the
manifestation of his wrath towards an individual. It could not
be otherwise, since the welfare of the state conditioned to so
large an extent the happiness of the individual. The startling
phenomena of nature, such as an eclipse, a flood, a storm,
while affecting individuals were not aimed directly at them, but
at the country viewed as the domain of a certain god or of cer-
tain gods. Blighted crops, famine, and pestilence had likewise a
public as well as a private aspect. On all such occasions the
rulers would proceed to the sanctuaries in order, with the assis-
tance of the priests, to pacify the angered god. It was not
sufficient at such times to pronounce sacred formulas, to make
fervent appeals, but some assurances had to be given that the
words and the symbolical acts would have the desired effect.
Omens were sought for from the animals offered. There were
other occasions besides those stated, when for the sake of
the public welfare oracles were sought at the sanctuaries.
If a public improvement was to be undertaken, such as the
building of a palace, or of a temple, of a canal,' or a dam,
it was of the utmost importance to know whether the enterprise
was acceptable to the deity. A day had to be carefully chosen
for laying the foundations, when the god would be favorably
ORACLES AND OMENS. 333
disposed towards his subjects, — the kings under whose auspices
such work was carried on. Similar precautions had to be
taken to select a favorable day for the dedication. This again
was determined by means of omens either derived from offerings
or in some other way. The Babylonians and Assyrians believed,
as did the Jews upon their return from the Babylonian exile, that
' unless the lord assists, the builders work in vain.' When we
come to military campaigns where the individual disappears
altogether in the presence of the majestic figure of the state,
the will and disposition of the gods had to be consulted at every
step, — regarding the plans of the enemy, at the enemy's
approach, before the battle, in the midst of the fray, and at its
termination.
The frequency with which the gods were approached in the
interests of the state and the public weal, plied with questions
upon which the fate of the land depended, is shown by the
stereotyped form which such official solicitations in the course
of time acquired. Dating from the reigns of Esarhaddon and
Ashurbanabal we have an elaborate series of prayers addressed
to the sun-god, all dealing with questions of a political import.
These prayers, so admirably edited and analyzed by Knudtzon,1
are all arranged according to a single pattern. Each one opens
with a question or series of questions which Shamash, the sun-
god, is asked to answer. The god is then implored not to
be angry, but to lend his aid against any errors unwittingly
committed in the sacrificial rites. For a second time the same
question is put in a somewhat varying form. Another appeal
is made, and the various omens derived from the inspection of
animals are interpreted as a guide to the priests. According to
the application of these omens to the sacrifice before the priest,
a decision is rendered. It will be sufficient for our purposes to
present a single specimen of such a fixed ritual.2
1 Assyrische Gebete an den Sonnengott fiir Staat und Konigliches Haus (Leipzig,
1893, 2 vols.). 2 Knudtzon, no. i.
334 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
Esarhaddon, being hard pressed by a group of nations to the
northeast of Assyria, led by a certain Kashtariti, and among
whose followers the Gimirrites, the Medes, and Manneans are
the most prominent, asks for an oracle from Shamash as to the
outcome of the situation. The priest, acting as mediator,
addresses1 the god:
0 Shamash ! great lord ! As I ask thee, do thou in true mercy answer
me.
From this day, the 3d day of this month of lyar2 to the nth day of
the month of Ab3 of this year, a period of one hundred days and one hun-
dred nights is the proscribed term for the priestly activity.4
Will within this period, Kashtariti, together with his soldiery, will the
army of the Gimirrites, the army of the Medes, will the army of the Man-
neans, or will any enemy whatsoever succeed in carrying out their plan,
whether by strategy (?) or by main force, whether by the force of weapons
of war and fight or by the ax, whether by a breach made writh machines of
war and battering rams 5 or by hunger, whether by the power residing in the
name of a god or goddess,6 whether in a friendly way or by friendly grace,7
or by any strategic device, will these aforementioned, as many as are
required to take a city, actually capture the city Kishsassu, penetrate into
the interior of that same city Kishsassu, will their hands lay hold of that
same city Kishsassu, so that it falls into their power ? Thy great divine
power knows it.8
The capture of that same city, Kishsassu, through any enemy whatso-
ever, within the specified period, is it definitely ordained by thy great and
divine will, O Shamash ! Will it actually come to pass?9
1 That the priest recites the prayer and not the king is shown by the frequent
introduction of the king's name in the 3d person. See, e.g., Knudtzon, nos. 40-47.
2 2d month.
3 5th month.
4 /.£., the priest is only asked for an oracle regarding the events of the next one
hundred days.
5 Various machines are mentioned. The precise meaning of the technical terms
employed is not known.
6 By invoking the assistance of the gods.
7 Peacefully, by mutual agreement and the promise of favors.
8 One is reminded of the Arabic phrase, " Allah alone knows it," so frequently intro-
duced in Mohammedan writings.
9 Lit., * Seen will it be seen, heard will it be heard ? ' The emphatic construction
is identical with the one frequently employed in Biblical Hebrew.
ORACLES AND OMENS. 335
It will be observed that, much as in a legal document, all
contingencies are enumerated. In other prayers, still more are
mentioned. A definite answer is required, and care is taken
not to leave any loophole open by means of which the deity
may escape from the obligation imposed upon him to manifest
his intention. Shamash might answer that the city will not be
captured, with the mental reservation that it will surrender, or
he might throw Esarhaddon off his guard 'by announcing that
" not by might nor by strength " will the city be taken, and the
king may be surprised some morning to learn that the catastro-
phe has been brought about through the power residing in the
' word.' These precautions were taken, not so much because
it was supposed that the gods and priests were tricky, but
because all conditions had to be carefully fulfilled in order to
ensure an answer, and, if at all possible, of course a favorable
answer. To the same end, great care had to be taken, that in
the preparation of the offering which accompanied the prayer
no mistake should be made. The sacrificial animal — in the
case before us a lamb — had to be guarded against all imper-
fections, impurities, and contaminations. The priest had to be
careful to put on the proper dress, to speak the proper words,
and to be himself free from any ritualistic impurity. Before
proceeding to the inspection of the animal, in order to forecast
the future, the priest had to take care that nothing might happen
to interfere with the proper observation of the rites. This sec-
tion of the prayer is characterized by the word "ezib" repeated
at the beginning of every line, and which conveys the appeal
that what follows may be precluded from happening.1 The
priest first prays to Shamash :
Preclude that after the specified period [the catastrophe may not come to
pass],
1 Knudtzon (p. 25) did not grasp the negative force of ezib. The word is a
request that something might not happen.
336 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
Preclude whatever they [i.e., the enemies] may plan may not be carried
out (?),
Preclude them from making a slaughter and from plundering. . . .
Whether the decision of this day be good or bad, ward off a stormy day
with pouring rain.
This last phrase, which is somewhat obscure, seems to be a
request made in the contingency of an unfavorable omen being
received. The sun-god is asked, at all events, not to hide his
countenance under clouds and rain on the decisive day of battle.
Coming after these preliminary requests to the sacrifice, the
priest continues:
Prevent anything unclean from defiling the place of inspection,1
Prevent the lamb of thy divinity, which is to be inspected, from being
imperfect and unfit.
Guard him who takes hold of the body of the lamb, who is clothed in the
proper sacrificial dress, from having eaten, drunk, or handled anything
unclean.
Make his hand firm (?), guard the seer, thy servant, from speaking a word
hastily.2
The priest thereupon repeats his question to the sun-god :
I ask thee, O Shamash ! great lord ! whether from the 3d day of this
month of lyar, up to the nth day of the month of Ab of this year, Kash-
tariti, with his soldiers, whether the Gimirrites, the Manneans, the Medes,
or whether any enemy whatsoever will take the said city, Kishsassu, enter
that said city, Kishsassu, seize said city, Kishsassu, with their hands, obtain
it in their power.
The various terms used in describing the taking of a city are
once more specified, so as to fulfill all the demands of definite-
ness in the question.
1 Where the animal is to be inspected, probably the altar itself.
2 In the Jewish ritual and many others, stress is laid upon pronouncing the words
of a prayer clearly and deliberately, especially such words as have a particularly
sacred value.
ORACLES AND OMENS. 337
The priest is now ready to proceed with an examination of
the animal before him. A varying list of omens are introduced
into the prayers under consideration. That they are so intro-
duced is a proof of the official character of these texts. The
omens were not, of course, intended to be recited. They are
enumerated as a guide to the priests. The various signs that
may be looked for are noted, and according to what the priest
finds he renders his decision. Knudtzon has made the obser-
vation l that in the prayers published by him, the signs found
on the animal are noted but not interpreted. This rather curi-
ous omission is again naturally accounted for on the assumption
that these prayers in their present form are part of a ritual com-
piled solely for the benefit of priests attached to a Shamash
sanctuary. Full directions were not required. All that the
priest needed was to know what to look for. For the rest, he
depended upon tradition or his own knowledge or judgment.
The omens themselves, or rather the signs, refer to the condi-
tion in which certain parts of the animal are found or to
peculiarities in the composition of the. animal.
The priest is instructed to observe whether ' at the nape on
the left side ' there is a slit ; whether ' at the bottom on the left
side of the bladder.' some peculiarity 2 is found or whether it is
normal ; whether 'the nape to the right side' is sunk and split or
whether the viscera are sound. The proportions, too, in the size
of the various parts of the body appear to have been of moment ;
and in this way, a large number of points are given to which the
priest is to direct his attention. From a combination of all pecu-
liarities and signs in a given instance, he divines the disposition
of the god addressed, whether it is favorable or not. The whole
ceremony is brought to a close by another appeal to the god to
send an answer to the question put to him. The priest prays :
1 Assyrische Gebete, p. 50.
2 Exactly of what nature cannot be ascertained. The text (Knudtzon, no. 29, rev.
15) is defective at this point.
338 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
By virtue of this sacrificial lamb, arise and grant true mercy, favorable
conditions of the parts of the animal, a declaration favorable and beneficial
be»ordained by thy great divinity. Grant that this may come to pass. To
thy great divinity, O Shamash ! great lord ! may it1 be pleasing,2 and may
an oracle be sent in answer!
In some of the prayers a second series of omen indications
are given. What the oracle announced we are, of course, not
told. The ritual is not concerned with results.
From the analysis just given it will be seen that the consul-
tation of a deity was often entailed with much ceremony. No
doubt the priests did all in their power to add to the solemnity
of such an occasion. The kings on their side showed their
lavishness in furnishing victims for the sacrifice. Again and
again does Esarhaddon solicit Shamash to reveal the outcome
of the military campaigns in which the king was engaged. The
same individual, Kashtariti, and the Gimirrites, Medes, etc., are
mentioned in many other prayers prepared in the course of the
campaign ; and elsewhere other campaigns are introduced. What
Esarhaddon did, no doubt his successors also did, as he himself
followed the example set by his predecessors. We are justified,
then, in concluding that a regular ' oracle and omen ritual ' was
developed in Babylonia and Assyria — how early it is of course
impossible to say. There is every reason to believe that in
some form such a ritual existed in Babylonia before the rise of
Assyria, but it is also evident that in a military empire like
Assyria, there would be more frequent occasion for securing
oracles than in Babylonia. The ritual may therefore have been
carried to a greater degree of perfection in the north. The
Assyrian conquerors, if we may judge from examples, were fond
of asking for an oracle at every turn in the political situation.
The king intends to send an official to a foreign land, but he is
uncertain as to the wisdom of his decision. Accordingly, he
1 The prayer or the lamb.
2 Lit., ' proceed.'
ORACLES AND OMENS. 339
puts the case before the god. If this decision is taken, he
asks, Will the envoy carry out the orders of the king?
Thy great divinity knows it.
Is it commanded and ordained by thy great divinity,
O Shamash ? Is it to come to pass ? l
In a similar way, questions are asked with reference to the
course of a campaign. Will the Assyrian king encounter the
king of Ethiopia, and will the latter give battle ? Will the king
return alive from the campaign ? is a question frequently asked.
Even for their quasi-private affairs, the kings sought for an
oracle. Before giving his daughter in marriage to a foreign
potentate, Esarhaddon desires to know whether the one seek-
ing this favor, Bartatua, tke king of Ishkuza,2
is to be trusted, will he fulfill his promises, will he observe the decrees of
Esarhaddon, the king of Assyria, and execute them in good faith ?
Again, when the king is about to associate his son with him-
self in the government, he first inquires whether this is agreeable
to the deity.3 The king fears lest his son may cause trouble,
may provoke dissensions. Past experience prompts him to be
careful before following his inclination.
Is the entrance of Siniddinabal, the son of Esarhaddon, the king of
Assyria, whose name is written on this tablet, into the government in accord
with the command of thy great divinity ? Is it to come to pass ?
The reference to the writing of the name is interesting. It
would appear that the question is actually written by the priest
and placed before the deity. -The Greeks similarly put their
questions to the Delphian oracle in writing. May it be that
among the Babylonians the answer of the god was at times also
1 Knudtzon, no. 66. Other examples are furnished in George Smith's History of
Ashurbanabal, pp. 184, 185.
2 A district to the northeast of Assyria ; Knudtzon, no. 29.
3 Ib. no. 107.
340 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
handed down on a tablet, as the Greek and Roman oracles were
communicated in writing on the leaves of a tree ?
If sickness entered the royal house, an oracle was likewise
sought. The king is sick. Is it ordained that he will recover?
We are told in one case that l
Nika, the mother of Esarhaddon, the king of Assyria, is sick. She
sees the hand of the goddess Nana of Uruk laid heavily upon her. ... Is
it ordained that this hand will be lifted off from the sufferer ?
The occasions, it is evident, were exceedingly numerous when
the Assyrian rulers appealed to the priests for oracles. Natu-
rally, this appeal was not in all cases made with the elaborate
formality illustrated by Esarhaddon's petitions to Shamash. At
times the monarch, as the individual, would content himself
with sending to the priest for an answer to a question, and the
priest would reply in an equally simple and direct manner.
Quite a number of such messages, sent by priests to their mas-
ter, are included in thevaluablepublication of * Assyrian Letters,'
begun by Professor R. F. Harper.2 The king's son wishes to
set out on a journey. The father sends to the astrologers
Balasi and Nabu-akheirba, and receives the reply:3
As for Ashur-mukinpalea, about whom the king, our lord, has sent to
us, may Ashur, Bel, Nabu, Sin, Shamash, and Ramman bless him. May
the king, our lord, witness his welfare (?). Conditions are favorable for
the journey. The second day is favorable, the fourth day very favorable.
Similarly, the astrologers send reports regarding the appear-
ance and position of the moon and the stars, and of various
phenomena that had to be taken into account in moments
where decisive action had to be taken.
1 Ib. no. 101.
2 Four volumes comprising several hundred letters have already appeared under
the title, Assyrian Letters of the K. Collection (London, 1896). For a good summary
of the character of the Assyrian epistolary literature, see Johnston's article in the
Journal of the American Oriental Society, xviii. i, pp. 125-134.
3 Harper, no. 77.
ORACLES AND OMENS. 341
Before leaving the subject, it may be of interest to point out
that among the literary remains of the Assyrian period there
are " blank formulas " for oracles, the names in each instance
to be filled out by the officiating priest. Such formulas were
prepared, no doubt, for cases of common occurrence. Thus
Esarhaddon, before appointing a person to a responsible posi-
tion, took the precaution of ascertaining from some deity
whether the appointment was a wise one. The name of the
individual being written down, the priest asks the deity in a
general way:1
Will the man whose name appears on this tablet, and whom he [the
king] is about to appoint to such and such a position, keep good faith, or
will he manifest hostility towards the king, inciting to rebellion ?
Esarhaddon may have had a special reason for using precau-
tions against his officials, and even his sons. He came to the
throne during a rebellion which involved the assassination
of his father. Esarhaddon's own brothers were the murderers.
We may well suppose that he trembled at every step he took,
but his position is after all characteristic of the Assyrian rulers
in general, many of whom came to the throne by violence and
maintained themselves through force.
Other texts enable us to study the form of the oracles them-
selves. As yet, no oracle texts have been found belonging to
the older Babylonian period, but we have again every reason
to believe that what holds good for the days of Assyrian power
applies to a much earlier period, though at the same time the
greater frequency with which Assyrian rulers were wont to ply
their gods with questions would increase the number of those
whose special business it was to pronounce the oracles. The
manifold duties of the priesthood would tend towards a differ-
entiation of the priests into various classes. The priest, as
exerciser, would become distinct from the priest as the inspector
1 E.g., Knudtzon, no. 124.
342 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIA tf RELIGION.
of omens, and the latter different again from the pronouncer of
oracles. From the fact that Marduk was regarded as the
special god of oracles by the Assyrians as well as the Babylo-
nians,1 we may conclude that this differentiation of the priestly
classes took place already in the south, or at all events that
oracle-giving as a distinct priestly function was recognized in
Babylonia and carried over to the northern empire. If we may
draw a general conclusion from the state of affairs in Esarhad-
don's days, this function was largely in the hands of women.
We know from other evidence that women were attached to the
temple service from ancient times.2 As sorceresses, too, they
occupied a quasi-priestly position, since their help could be
invoked in driving evil spirits into the person of one's enemy.
The oracle-giver and the sorcerer or sorceress are correlated
personages in religion. For various reasons — in part, perhaps,
because of her physical differences from man — woman was
invested with a certain mystery by ancient nations.3 Hence the
fact that among so many nations witchcraft is associated with
woman, and similarly among many nations women perform the
functions of the oracle. In a series of eight oracles addressed
to Esarhaddon,4 six are given forth by women. These oracles,
it so happens, all issue from the goddess Ishtar of Arbela. The
cult of this goddess at Arbela stood in high favor in the eighth
century B.C. An influential body of priests congregated there,
and the eight oracles in question appear to be a part of a more
extensive collection made by the theologians of Arbela, of whose
intellectual activity there are other traces. Arbela appears to
have developed a special school of theology, marked by the at-
tempt to accord a superior position to the great goddess Ishtar.
1 Zimmern, Busspsalmen, p. 32. The popularity of the sun-cult in Assyria in
connection with omens and oracles is probably due also in part to the influence of
Marduk, who was, as we have seen, a solar deity.
2 Lehman, Samassumukin, p. 42.
3 See Floss, Das Weib, pp. 594-606; also above, p. 267.
4 IV R. pi. 61.
ORACLES AND OMENS. 343
The one who pronounces the oracle speaks on behalf of
Ishtar, and therefore employs the first person. The oracles all
have reference to political events. They cannot, of course, be
the answers to the questions asked in the prayers analyzed
above, since these were addressed to the sun-god; but we may
feel certain that the oracles of the Shamash priests or priest-
esses were much of the same order, varying only in minor
particulars. The goddess invariably encourages the king.
The priest, it would appear, hears the voice of the deity in
the wind.
Fear not ! The wind which speaks to thee —
Comes with speech from me, withholding nothing.1
Thine enemies, like the ... of Siwan,2
. At thy feet will be poured out.
The great mistress am I.
I am Ishtar of Arbela, who forces thine enemies to submission.
Is there any utterance of mine that I addressed to thee upon which thou
couldst not rely ?
I am Ishtar of Arbela.
Thine enemies, the Ukkites (?), I give to thee, even I, Ishtar of Arbela.
In front and behind thee I march.
Fear not !
This oracle, we are told in the subscript, was pronounced by
a certain Ishtar-la-tashiat, a son [/>., a native] of Arbela. The
dignity of the diction is very marked. The very frequent assur-
ance ' fear not ' and the solemn repetition of * I am Ishtar ' lend
impressiveness to the message. The oracle, it will be seen,
deals in general phrases. This indefiniteness characterizes
most of them ; and the more impressive the diction, the greater
vagueness in the statements made. So an oracle, coming from
Ishtar and Nabu and uttered by a woman Baya, a native of
Arbela, announces :
1 /.£., Ishtar sends the wind with a clear message.
2 3d month.
344 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
Fear not, Esarhaddon,
I, the lord, to thee do I speak.
The beams of thy heart I strengthen as thy mother,1
Who gave thee life.
Sixty great gods are with me 2
Drawn up to protect thee.
The god Sin is on thy right, Shamash on thy left.
Sixty great gods are round about thee
Drawn up in battle array in the center of the citadel.
On men do not rely.
Lift up thine eyes to me. Look up to me !
I am Ishtar of Arbela.
Ashur is gracious to thee.
Thy weakness I will change to strength (?).
Fear not ! glorify me !
Is not the enemy subdued
Who has been handed over to thee ?
I proclaim it aloud,
What has been will be.3
I am Nabu, the lord of the writing tablet,
Glorify me.
A message of this kind could hardly have been satisfactory
except as a general encouragement.
The popularity of the Nabu cult in Assyria, it will be recalled,
is an offset against the supremacy of Marduk in the south. The
Assyrian kings found it to their interest to incorporate as much
of the Babylonian cult as was possible into their own religious
ritual. To Shamash they assigned the role played by Marduk.
There was no danger in paying homage to Nabu, the son of
Marduk. Ishtar they regarded as their own goddess quite as
much as Ashur. These four deities, therefore, Ishtar, Shamash,
Nabu, and Ashur, are the special gods of oracles recognized by
the Assyrian rulers. Marduk, who is the chief source of oracles
1 Perhaps a proverbial phrase, having the force of ' I nurture thee as thy own
mother did.'
2 Constituting the host of Ishtar, which is elsewhere referred to, e.g., IVR.2 pi. 61,
col. i. 27. 3 Lit., ' the future or later things like the former.'
ORACLES AND OMENS, 345
in the south, is more rarely appealed to in the north, though of
course recognized as powerful. He could not be expected to
regard with favor an empire that so seriously threatened his
supremacy in the pantheon.
The occasion when an oracle was announced was often one
of great solemnity. Just as the prayers in which the questions
of the kings were embodied, were carefully written out, so that
the priest in reciting them might not commit any mistakes, so
the answer to the prayers were transmitted to the king in writ-
ing. Among the oracles of the days of Esarhaddon, there is one
coming from Ashur in which the ceremonies accompanying the
deliverance are instanced.1 The oracle deals with the Gimir-
rites, the same people in regard to whom Esarhaddon so
often consults the sun-god. It is marked by the more definite
character of its announcements when compared with others.
The text is in the form of a communication made to the king,
and, like other official documents, it begins with a salutation.
The gods give Esarhaddon greeting.2
Ashur has given him the four ends of the earth.
In the house where he shines and is great,3 the king has no rival.
Like the rising sun he shines.
This is the greeting from Bel Tarbasi 4 and the assembled gods.
The god Ashur himself now addresses the king :
As for those enemies that plot against thee, that force thee to march out,
Thou didst open thy mouth [saying], " Verily I implore Ashur."
I have heard thy cry.
Out of the great gate of heaven I proclaim aloud,
' Surely I will hasten to let fire devour them.
Thou shalt stand among them.
1 Published by S. A. Strong, Bcitrdge zur Assyriologie, ii. 627-33.
2 The opening lines, containing a reference to the Gimirrites, are imperfectly
preserved.
3 /.£., he is the greatest scion of the reigning dynasty.
4 ' Lord of the court ' — a title of Ashur.
346 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
In front of thee I shall rise up.1
Up onto the mountain I bring them,
There to rain down upon them destructive stones.
Thine enemies I hew down,
With their blood I fill the river.
Let them behold and glorify me,
For Ashur, the lord of gods, am I.'
This important and striking message, coming direct from
Ashur we are told, is to be formally presented and read in the
presence of the king. Instructions are added to the priests to
pour out a libation of precious oil. Sacrifices of animals and
waving of incense are to accompany the presentation.
The oracle, as the god's answer to the king's questions, thus
gave rise to a ritual as elaborate as the rites connected with the
preparations for the answer. The oracles were not always
trustworthy, as we can well believe, and often they were not
definite enough. If we may judge from an expression in one
of the divine messages to Esarhaddon, the king appears to have
entered a complaint against a former oracle, which was not to
his liking. Ishtar accordingly sends the following message: 2
The former word which I spoke to thee,
On it thou didst not rely.
Now, then, in the later one you may have confidence.
Glorify me !
Clearly, the Assyrian kings believed that the oracles existed
to announce what they wanted to hear. They probably did not
hesitate to follow their own judgment whenever they considered
it superior to the advice given to them by the gods. There
would, of course, be no difficulty in accounting for failures
brought about through obedience to the oracles. The priests,
hemmed in on every side by minute ceremonial observances,
forfeited their power as mediators by the slightest failure in
1 As a protection, just as Jahwe appears in a pillar of cloud to protect his people.
2 1VR.2 61, col. vi. 47-52.
ORACLES AND OMENS. 347
the observance of these rites. An error or a mishap would
entail most serious consequences. A misleading oracle, there-
fore, and to a certain extent, unfavorable omens, would be the
fault of the priests. The deity would send ' a lying message ' *
or bring about unfavorable omens as a sign of his or her dis-
pleasure. On the other hand, the priests in turn would not
hesitate — speaking of course in the name of the gods — to
accuse the kings of neglecting Ishtar or Nabu or Shamash, as
the case may be. In an oracle addressed to Esarhaddon,2
Ishtar of Arbela is represented as complaining that the king has
done nothing for her, although she has done so much for him.
Such a state of affairs cannot go on.
Since they do nothing for rrte,
I will not give anything to thee.
The king promptly responds by copious offerings, and the
goddess appears to be pacified.
There is another feature connected with the oracles that must
be touched upon before passing on. The oracles stand ob-
viously in close relationship to the penitential psalms. It was,
naturally, in times of political distress that the kings would be
particularly zealous in maintaining themselves on good terms
with the powerful gods. Without their aid success could not
be expected to crown any efforts. Guiding their steps by
frequent consultations of the priests, the appeals of the kings
would increase in earnestness and fervor as the campaign pro-
gressed and assumed more serious aspects. When disaster
stared them in the face, they would be forced to conclude that
the gods were angered, and there was only one way left of
averting the divine wrath — a free confession of sins, accom-
panied, of course, by offerings and magic rites. The Assyrian
kings do not tell us in their annals of discomfitures that they
1 See I Kings, xxii. 2^.
2 Strong, Bcitr'dgc zur Assyriologie, ii. 628, 629.
348 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
encountered. The penitential psalms supply this omission.
We have such a psalm written in the days of Ashurbanabal,1 in
which that proud monarch humbles himself before the great
god Nabu, and has the satisfaction in return of receiving a
reassuring oracle. He prays :
I confess to thee, Nabu, in the presence of the great gods,
[Many2 (?)] are my sins beyond endurance?3
[Lord (?)] of Nineveh, I come before thee, the warrior among the gods, his
brothers.
[Prolong (?)] the life of Ashurbanabal for a long period.
... At the feet of Nabu I prostrate myself.
The god reassures the king:
I will grant thee life, O Ashurbanabal, even I,
Nabu, to the end of days
Thy feet shall not grow weary, nor thy hands weak (?),
These lips of thine shall not cease to approach me,
Thy tongue shall not be removed from thy lips,
For I give thee a favorable message.
I will raise thy head, I will increase thy glory in the temple of E-babbara.4
The reference to the temple of Shamash at Sippar reveals
the situation. Babylonia was the cause of much trouble to
Ashurbanabal, owing chiefly to the intrigues of his treacherous
brother Shamashshumukin.5 Ashurbanabal at one time was
not merely in danger of losing control over the south, but of
losing his life in the rebellion organized by his 'faithless
brother.' A successful rebellion is a clear sign of a god's
displeasure. Marduk, as we have seen, was not often appealed
to by the Assyrian kings, but Nabu seemed always ready to
help them. Hence the king confesses his sins and makes an
1 Published and translated by S. A. Strong, Transactions of the Ninth Inter-
national Oriental Congress (1893), "• 199-208.
2 Supplied from the context, through comparison with similar compositions.
3 Lit., ' my soul cannot overcome.'
4 The composition continues in this strain, Ashurbanabal and Nabu speaking
alternately. 5 See Tiele, Babyl.-Assyr. Geschichte, pp. 371 seq.
ORACLES AND OMENS. 349
appeal to the great Babylonian god and not to Ashur. He is
encouraged by the promise that his life will be spared, and that
his supremacy will be recognized in Babylonia. The great
sanctuary of Sippar is here employed figuratively for the tem-
ples of Babylonia in general. To be glorified in that famous
temple was equivalent to a recognition of royal authority.
That these oracles served a practical purpose is definitely
proved by the manner in which they are introduced by the
kings in their annals. Ashurbanabal tells us that in the course
of one of his campaigns against Elam, he addressed a fervent
prayer to Ishtar of Arbela, and in reply the message comes, as
in the texts we have been considering, "Fear not"; and she
adds, " Thy hands raised towards me, and thy eyes filled with
tears, I look upon with favor." 1
DREAMS.
It is, of course, not necessary to assume that the oracles of
the gods were always delivered in the same formal manner,
accompanied by elaborate ceremonies. The gods at times
reveal themselves in a more direct manner to their favorites.
In visions of the night they appear to encourage the Assyrian
army by an oracle. On one occasion, when the army of Ashur-
banabal approached a rushing stream which they were afraid to
cross, Ishtar makes her appearance at night, and declares, " I
walk in front of Ashurbanabal, the king who is the creation of
my hands." * The army, thus reassured, crosses the river in
safety. On another occasion, Ashurbanabal, when threatened
by the king of Elam, receives a message from Ishtar revealed
to a seer in a dream at night. The seer — no doubt a priest
- reports to the king:3 'Ishtar, dwelling in Arbela, came with
1 George Smith, Annals of Ashurbanabal, p. 121.
2 Rassam Cylinder, VR. col. v. 11. 95-103.
3 George Smith, Annals of Ashurbanabal, pp. 119-121.
350 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
quivers hung on her right and left side, with a bow in her hand,
and girded (?) with a pointed, unsheathed sword. Before thee
\i.e., the king] she stood, and like the mother that bore thee.1
Ishtar, supreme among the gods, addressed thee, commanding:
" Be encouraged2 for the fray. Wherever thou art, I am." :
In connection with the importance that the Babylonians and
Assyrians, in common with all ancient nations, attached to
dreams, divine messages thus revealed had a special significance
fully on a par with the oracles that were formally delivered with
an accompaniment of elaborate rites. A god appearing to one
in a dream was a manifestation, the force of which could not
be disputed. It mattered little to whom the dream was sent.
Ashur, on one occasion, chose to reveal himself to an enemy
of Ashurbanabal with a message. He appears in a dream
before Gyges, the king of Lydia, and tells him,8 " Pay homage
to Ashurbanabal, the king of Assyria, and by the power of his
name conquer thine enemies." Gyges obeys and sends a mes-
senger to the Assyrian monarch to inform him of the dream.
Occasionally in this way a deity might appear to a king, but in
general it was to the professional ' dreamer ' rather than to the
laity to whom oracles were thus sent. The message was not
necessarily delivered in person by the deity. Sin, the moon-
god, on one occasion writes his message on the moon's disc:
Against all who have evil designs
And hostile sentiments towards
Ashurbanabal, the king of Assyria,
Will I send a miserable death.4
Every dream was of course sent by some god, but the dreams
of others than those. who acted as mediators between the gods
and men were of a different character. They were omens.
The gods would reveal themselves indirectly by means of
pictures or symbols, and it would require the services of a priest
1 With maternal kindness. 3 Rassam Cylinder, col. ii. 11. 98 seq.
2 Lit., 'look up.' 4 Ib. col. iii. 11. 122-124.
ORACLES AND OMENS, 351
again to interpret such symbols or omens. The gods were
asked to send such dreams as might receive a favorable inter-
pretation,1 and when a dream came unsolicited, the gods were
implored to convert the dream into a favorable omen.
In the case of dreams, it will be apparent, the dividing line
between oracles proper and omens becomes exceedingly faint,
and it is very doubtful whether the Babylonians or Assyrians
recognized any essential difference between the two. The
suggestion has already been thrown out that there is a wider
aspect to omens in the Babylonian religion than their employ-
ment in connection with sacrificial offerings. We have reached
a point when it will be proper to take up this wider aspect.
1 £.g., 1VR. 59, no. 2, aib.
CHAPTER XX.
VARIOUS CLASSES OF OMENS.
THERE is a close connection between the various branches
of the religious literature of Babylonia and Assyria that we have
hitherto been considering. The magic incantations are, as we
have seen, a form of prayer. On the other hand, prayers,
whether hymns or confessions of sin with an appeal for relief
from suffering or distress, or embodying the petition for a divine
response to some question or questions, are never entirely
dissociated from incantations, and are invariably based upon
the same beliefs that give to the element of magic such a promi-
nent place in the religion. The omens form part of this same
order of beliefs. The connecting link between incantations and
omens is the sense of mystery impressed upon man by two
orders of -phenomena • — the phenomena of his own life and the
phenomena of the things about him. In his own life, nothing
was more mysterious to him than the power of speech. It is
doubtful whether he recognized that the animals communicated
with one another by means of the sounds that they emitted; but
even if he did, the great gap separating such means of commu-
nication from the power residing in the combination of sounds,
of which he could avail himself, must have been all the more
impressive. In view of this, it is not difficult to understand
that a magic force was attributed to words as such. Of course,
a somewhat advanced degree of culture must have been reached
before such a belief would be given a definite form of expres-
sion; but even in the simplest form of social organization the
notion of authority necessarily exists, and authority is insepa-
VARIOUS CLASSES OF OMENS. 353
rable from words. The chief commands, and the conclusion is
naturally drawn that the words he utters are imbued with the
power to force obedience. These two factors — the mystery of
speech and the practical demonstration of the power residing in
words — are sufficient to account for the part played by incan-
tations among all nations at a certain stage of their religious
development; and once introduced, the conservatism attaching
to religious rites would ensure their continuance even after the
popular religious beliefs had passed far beyond the stage in
question. The modifications introduced into the incantations
would be nigh endless. There would develop a tendency to
greater complications in the combination of words. At the same
time their literary form would be improved. Prayers and hymns
reflecting advanced religious sentiments would be produced,
but the magic element connected with the words as such would
not for that reason be lost sight of. The efficacy of such prayers
would still depend upon their being uttered in the right manner
and — what is equally to the point — by the right person.
Corresponding to the chief in secular affairs — who alone can
pronounce words that give evidence of their power by the results
produced — is the priest in religious affairs to whom, as the
mediator between the gods and men, the secret is entrusted of
uttering the right words in the right way, so as to produce the
desired results, to force, as it were, obedience from the gods, as
a chief forces obedience from his subjects. In a more advanced
stage of religious culture, the position of the priest is no less
powerful and important. When incantations yield to prayers
in the proper sense, or are combined with prayers, it is only the
priests who can make the prayers effective by their interceding
in some way with the gods, whether by adding their appeal to
that of the supplicant, or by the performance of the rites
accompanying prayer, or by their aid in leading the worshipper
into the presence of the deity and standing with him before the
throne of grace.
354 BA B YL ONI A N-ASS YRIAN REL IGION.
When man turns from a contemplation of self to the things
around him, there is added to the sense of the mysterious
which is aroused in him, the feeling of his own weakness which
is borne in upon him with overpowering force. He cannot fail
to realize how dependent he is upon the sun, the moon, the
rain, and the storm. At every step, he takes dangers beset his
path. The animal world is at times hostile, at times friendly;
but whether the one or the other, it is essential for him to care-
fully note all that is going on around him. Every happening
or sight of an unusual character arouses now his sense of fear,
and again his hope. He learns to attach special importance to
deviations from the normal course of things. There must be a
reason for the exception from the rule. It betokens something,
and, concerned as man primarily is for his own welfare, he
naturally comes to connect both the regular phenomena of
nature as well as the deviations, the normal traits and habits
of the animal world as well as peculiar features occasionally
occurring, with his own fate. To forestall the future was his
only safeguard against the dangers in store for him. It was of
the utmost importance to him to know what was coming or, at
all events, to be on the lookout for something, in order to be
in a proper frame to receive either the benefits or to meet the
difficulties of the situation.
His powers of observation — upon which man in a primitive
state depended almost entirely for his sustenance — were thus
further strengthened by the necessity of protecting himself, so
far as possible, against the uncertainties of the future. Nothing
would escape him. The movement of the stars and planets,
their position at different seasons and periods, the appearance
of the clouds, an eclipse, the conditions of the streams, an
earthquake, the direction of the winds, storms, the flight of
birds, the barking of dogs, the movements of snakes and ser-
pents, peculiar marks on the bodies of children, of adults and
animals, monstrosities among mankind or the brute creation,
VARIOUS CLASSES OF OMENS. 355
the meeting with certain persons or animals, the rustling of
leaves, the change of seasons, the lustre of precious stones, all
attracted man's attention. Whatever he saw might portend
something to him, in fact did portend something; hence the one
great aim and ideal of his life was to see everything. Seeing
meant foreseeing, and the man who could see everything — the
seer par excellence, who could also understand what he saw —
held in his hands the key that would unlock the secrets of the
future. He possessed the means of forecasting events.
Apart, then, from the interpretation of omens in connection
with sacrifices and incantations, the individual had to be on the
outlook at all times for signs and portents. To neglect them
would entail serious consequences.
This wider aspect of omens accounts for the extensive omen
literature that arose in Babylonia and Assyria. Fully one-fourth
of the portion of Ashurbanabal's library that has been discovered
consists of omens,1 tablets of various size in which explanations
are afforded of all physical peculiarities to be observed in
animals and men, of natural phenomena, of the position and
movements of the planets and stars, of the incidents and
accidents of public and private life, — in short, of all possible
occurrences and situations.
As yet but a small proportion of this literature has been
published, and a thorough understanding of it is impossible
until systematic publications shall have been issued. Meanwhile
it is safe to assert that, as in the case of incantations and
prayers, the omens were generally combined into series by the
Babylonian and Assyrian scribes.
1 Illustrated by the four volumes of Bezold's Catalogue of the Konjunjik, Collec-
tion of the British Museum (London, 1889-96).
356 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION,
OMENS FROM PLANETS AND STARS.
it
Ihering observes l that the stars were observed by the Baby-
lonians in the interest of navigation. While this is true, yet
the chief motive in the development of astronomy in the
Euphrates Valley was the belief that the movements of the
heavenly bodies portended something that was important for
man to know. That the stars served as guides to the mariner
was only an additional reason for attaching great importance to
the heavenly phenomena. Scientific observations were but
means to an end ; an'd the end was invariably the derivation of
omens from the movements and position of the planets and
stars. When, therefore, we find the astronomers sending reports
to their royal masters apparently of a purely scientific character,
we may be certain that although no omens are mentioned, both
parties had omens in mind. The astronomical reports, of which
quite a number have already been published,2 may therefore be
reckoned as part of the omen literature. The vernal equinox
was a period of much significance. The astronomer royal
accordingly reports:3
On the sixth day of Nisan,4
Day and night were balanced.
There were six double hours of day,
Six double hours of night.
May Nabu and Marduk
Be gracious to the king, my lord.
On another occasion the equinox took place on the i5th of
Nisan,5 and accordingly this is reported. Again, the appearance
of the new moon was anxiously looked for each month, and
the king is informed whether or not it was seen on the 29th or
3oth day of the month.6
1 Vorgeschichte der Indo-Europaer, pp. 221 seq. 4 The ist month of the year.
z E.g., IIIR. 51. S IIIR. 51, no. 2.
3 Ib. no. i. 6 Ib. no. 3.
VARIOUS CLASSES OF OMENS. 357
A watch we kept
On the twenty-ninth day,
The moon we saw.
May Nabu and Marduk
Be gracious to the king, my lord.
From Nabua of the city of Ashur.
An extraordinary event, such as an eclipse, is made the sub-
ject of a more elaborate report. The Babylonian astronomers
had developed their scientific attainments to the point of cal-
culating the time when an eclipse of the sun or the moon would
take place. As this period approached, they watched for the
eclipse. We have an interesting specimen of a report in which
the astronomer announces that an expected eclipse for which a
watch was kept for three days did not appear.1 Another
addressed to an official reads : 2
To the Agriculturist,3 my lord,
Thy servant Nabushumiddin,
An officer of Nineveh,
May Nabu and Marduk be gracious
To the Agriculturist, my lord.
The fourteenth day we kept a watch for the moon.
The moon suffered an eclipse.
The reports pass over into indications of omens with an ease
which shows that the observations of the astronomers were
made with this ulterior motive in view. A report which
forms a supplement to one above translated furnishes the inter-
pretation given to the vernal equinox : 4
The moon and sun are balanced,
The subjects will be faithful,5
The king of the land will reign for a long time.
1 IIIR. 51, no. 9. 2 Ib. no. 7.
3 What the station of this official was we are not told.
4 II1R. 58, no. 7.
5 Lit., ' true speech in the mouth of the people,' i.e., there will be no sedition.
358 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
The complement, then, to the purely scientific observations
is furnished by these official communications to the kings and
others, setting forth in response, no doubt, to commands or
inquiries, the meaning of any particular phenomenon, or of the
position of the planets, or of any of the stars at any time, or of
their movements. Of such communications we have a large
number. They illustrate the great attention that was paid to
details in the observation of the heavenly bodies. The moon
as the basis of the calendrical system occupies the first place in
these reports. Its movements were more varied than those of
the sun. Through its phases, its appearance and disappearance
at stated intervals, a safe point of departure was obtained for
time calculations. While the sun through its daily course
regulated the divisions of the day, the moon by its phases fixed
the division of weeks and months. The moon never appeared
quite the same on two successive nights nor in the same part
of the heavens. The more variety, the more significance — was
a principle of general application in the interpretation of omens.
Whether the Babylonians also recognized an influence of the
moon on the tides, we have no certain means of determining,
but it is eminently likely that trained as their astronomers were
in careful observation, this was the case. But apart from this,
there were many events in public and private affairs that
appeared to them to stand in close connection with the move-
ments of the orb of night. Nothing that occurred being
regarded as accidental, the conclusion was forced upon the
Babylonians that the time when something was undertaken was
of significance. The fact that certain undertakings succeeded,
while others failed, was most easily explained upon the theory
that there were periods favorable for the action involved
and periods unfavorable. The gathering of past experience
thus becomes a guiding principle in the interpretation of
the movements of the moon ; and what applies to the moon
applies, of course, to the other planets and to the stars.
VARIOUS CLASSES OF OMENS. 359
No doubt other factors are involved, such as association of
ideas; but it is evident from a careful study of the omen litera-
ture that conclusions drawn from what appears to us as the
accidental relation of past occurrences to the phenomena pre-
sented by the planets and stars constituted fully three-fourths
of the wisdom of the Euphratean augurs. The same report, of
which a portion has already been quoted,1 continues after inter-
preting the meaning of the equinox with a diagnosis of other
concurrent conditions:2
Sun and moon are seen apart,3
The king of the country will manifest wisdom.4
On the fourteenth day sun and moon are seen together,
There will be loyalty in the land,
The gods of Babylonia are favorably inclined,
The soldiery will be in accord with the king's desire,
The cattle of Babylonia will pasture in safety.5
From Ishtar-shumeresh.
The same conditions appearing on another day may portend
precisely the reverse. So another report informs the king : 6
On the fifteenth day the sun and moon are seen together,
A powerful enemy raises his weapons against the land,
The enemy will smash the great gate of the city,
The star Anu appears bright,
The enemy will devastate.
It is quite evident that such reports must have been sent in
response to royal orders asking for the meaning of existing con-
ditions or of conditions that may be observed on certain days.
At times the prognostications assume a remarkable degree of
definiteness which forms a striking contrast to the general
1 IIIR. 58, no. 7. 4 His decision will be wise.
2 Ib. no. 6. 5 Safe from attacks.
3 Are not seen at the same time. 6 IIIR. 58, no. 13.
360 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
vagueness of the oracles. An official, Balasi, reports l on one
occasion regarding the significance of the moon appearing
unexpectedly :
The moon is seen out of season,
Crops will be small.
On the twelfth day the moon is seen together with the sun.2
Contrary to the calculated time,
The moon and sun appear together,
A strong enemy will devastate the land.
The king of Babylonia will be forced to submit to his enemy.
On the twelfth day, the moon with the sun is seen,
On the twelfth day is seen.
Evil is in store for Babylonia.
It is a favorable sign for Elam and the west land,
But surely unfavorable for Babylonia.
The reports were not always concerned with political affairs.
Frequently there is a reference to lions and hyenas that might
be expected to make their appearance because of certain natu-
ral phenomena. Often crops are referred to, and according as
the conditions are favorable or not, fertility or famine is
predicted in the official reports. On other occasions the
astrologers venture the very safe prognostication that male
children will be born or that there will be miscarriages, though
it seems likely that in such cases the forecast is intended for
the affairs of the palace alone.
We have seen 3 what great importance was attached by the
Babylonians to eclipses. It will be appropriate, therefore, to
give a specimen of an astrologer's report in reference to such a
phenomenon : 4
The moon disappeared,5 evil will settle in the land.
The moon, contrary to calculation, disappeared.
1 Ib. no. 12.
2 This appears to be the unusual occurrence involved.
3 See above, pp. 281, 332. 4 HIR. 58, no. 14.
6 /.£., contrary to calculation.
VARIOUS CLASSES OF OMENS. 361
An eclipse has taken place.
On the twenty-ninth day the moon disappeared
And the sun on the day of the eclipse entered the circle.1
It is an eclipse of Elam.2
If in the month of Kislev,3 an eclipse is observed
That encircles (?) the sun and the moon disappears,
Upon the observation of the eclipse,
Then may the king be exalted.
May the heart of the king, my lord, rejoice.
From Khushi-ilu, the servant of the king, the eponym.
Another report reads : 4
To the king, my lord,
Thy servant Ishtar-iddinabal,
The chief of the astronomers of Arbela.
May Nabu, Marduk, Ishtar of Arbela
Be gracious to the king, my lord,
On the twenty-ninth day a watch we kept.
The observatory was covered,
The moon we did not see.
This report was sent on the second day of the month of
Shebat.5 From these specimens and others, it is evident that
reports regarding the appearance or non-appearance of the
new moon "were regularly sent. But in addition to this, the
kings sent to the observatory on numerous other occasions
for information with reference to the significance of certain
phenomena.
As in the case of the moon, so also for the sun and the stars,
reports were transmitted that served as guides in directing the
kings in their affairs. So on one occasion Nabu-mushesi fore-
casts that6
If the ' great lion ' star is dark,
It is favorable for the country.
1 The shadow. 4 IIIR. 51, no. 5.
2 Favorable to Elam (so Oppert translates). 5 nth month.
8 9th month. 6 HIR. 59^ no. 13.
362 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
If the ' king ' star is dark,
The chamberlain l (?) of the palace dies.
The official character of these reports is one of their signifi-
cant features. Their great variety is an indication of the fre-
quent occasions on which the kings consulted the astrologers.
No important enterprise was undertaken without first ascertain-
ing what phenomena might be looked for on the day fixed for
any action, and what these phenomena portended. In the case
of the Assyrian reports, it is natural to find many illusions to
foreign nations, since war occupied so much of the time and
energies of the Assyrian rulers. But we have seen that for
private affairs the astrologers were also consulted, as well as for
the internal affairs of the country. The reports illustrate
the practical application of what became known in the ancient
world as " Chaldaean wisdom." If, however, we would know
the source whence the astrologers derived the knowledge which
they furnished in their reports, we must turn to the long lists
prepared by the priests, in which all possible phenomena con-
nected with the planets and stars were noted and their meaning
indicated. These compilations constitute the f Priestly Codes '
of the Babylonians, and, as already intimated, they were
combined just as the incantations and prayers, -into series.
Many such series must have existed at one time in Babylonia.
A great temple was incomplete without its observatory, and
we are warranted in concluding that every great religious
center of the Euphrates Valley had its collection of omen
tablets. The natural ambition of the priests was to make such
a series as complete as possible. The larger the number of
observations it contained, the greater the possibility of finding
an answer to the question put to them. To these lists addi-
tions would constantly be made, and, if we may judge from the
manner of literary composition that prevailed among the ancient
Hebrews and later among the Arabs, the work of the compilers
1 Some palace official is mentioned.
VARIOUS CLASSES OF OMENS. 363
of omen series consisted essentially in combining whatever
material they could obtain, and adding such observations as
they themselves had made. While, therefore, the omen code
of one place might differ in details from that of another, not
only would the underlying principles be the same in all, but
each series would represent an aggregation of experiences and
observations drawn from various quarters.
A large omen series of which as yet only fragments have been
published l bears the title ' Illumination of Bel.' It is esti-
mated that this astrological code embraced more than one
hundred tablets. From the fragments published, the general
method employed in the preparation of the series can be gath-
ered. To the moon and to the sun, to each of the planets, and
to the important stars a separate section was assigned. In
this section the peculiarities, regular and irregular, connected
with each of the bodies were noted, their appearance and disap-
pearance, the conditions prevailing at rising and at setting, the
relationship of the moon to the sun or to a star, of the stars to
one another and to the ecliptic, were set forth. Since, however,
the time when a phenomenon connected with a planet or star
was as important as the phenomenon itself, observations were
entered for the various months of the year and for various
days in each month. The days were not arbitrarily chosen,
but, as there is every reason to believe, selected on the basis
of past experience. Similarly the interpretations of the
phenomena were founded on the actual occurrence of certain
events at certain times when the conditions indicated actually
existed. A single occurrence might suffice for predicating a
connection between the event and the phenomenon. The
coincidence would constitute an observation, but the omen
would naturally gain additional force if it was based on a
repeated observation of the same phenomenon on the same day
l E.g., IIIR. 52, no. 2 ; 60 and 61. Professor Craig of the University of Michigan
is now preparing for publication all the fragments of this series. (See his Assyrian
and Babylonian Religious Texts, ii. 7.)
364 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
of the same month. But such a case would be rare, and the
effort of the astrologers would be directed simply towards gather-
ing as many observations of phenomena as possible. They
would rest content when they had found a single connection
between the phenomenon and the event. Their success in
giving an answer to a question put to them as to what might
happen on a certain day, fixed for battle or for laying the
foundations of an edifice, or for dedicating a temple, for setting
out on an expedition, or for any undertaking whatsoever, would
depend on the completeness of their lists, and correspondingly
the interpretation of a phenomenon occurring on any day
would entail no difficulties if in their consultation lists the
phenomenon would be recorded.
The 22d tablet of the series ' Illumination of Bel' deals with
the important subject of eclipses. It contains 88 lines, and
furnishes us with a good specimen of the class of omens under
consideration. It begins l with eclipses that may take place
during the first month, and runs along through the twelve
months of the year. The i4th, i5th, i6th, 2oth, and 2istdays
of the month are those set down when eclipses have been
observed. The official character of the omens is indicated by
their repeated references to the nations with which Babylonia
— and later Assyria — came into contact, and to the fate in
store for the rulers of the country. For the third month, the
tablet notes :
In the month of Sivan, an eclipse happening on the I4th day, proceed-
ing from east to west, beginning with the middle watch,2 and ending with
the morning watch, the shadow being seen in the east — the side of obscura-
tion— furnishes an omen3 for the king of Dilmun.4 The king of Dilmun
is slain.
1 II I R. 60. The first eleven lines are broken off.
2 I.e.. of the night. The night, it will be recalled, was divided into three watches
of four hours each. 3 Lit., a ' divine decision (or oracle) is given.'
4 An island near the head of the Persian Gulf, often referred to in the historical
texts. See Tiele, Babyl.-Assyr. Gesch. p. 88, etc.
VARIOUS CLASSES OF OMENS. 365
An eclipse happening on the i5th day, the king of Dilmun is slain, and
some one seizes the throne.
An eclipse happening on the i6th day, the king is deposed and slain,
and a worthless person seizes the throne.
An eclipse happening on the 2oth day, rains descend from heaven, and
the canals are flooded.
An eclipse happening on the 2ist day, sorrow and despair in the land.
The land is full of corpses.
The eclipses for the fourth month furnish omens for the king
of Guti — another district with which Babylonia and Assyria
had frequent dealings.
An eclipse happening in the month of Tammuz on the I4th day, pro-
ceeding from the west to the south, beginning with the first watch and
ending with the middle watch, the shadow being seen in the west — the
side of obscuration — furnishes an omen for the king of Guti. Overthrow
of Guti by force, followed by complete submission.
An eclipse happening on the I5th day,1 rains descend from heaven,
floods come upon the land, famine in the land.
An eclipse happening on the i6th day, women have miscarriages.
An eclipse happening on the 2oth day, storms set in and famine ; after-
wards for a year storms destroy property.2
An eclipse happening on the 2ist day, the armies of the king revolt and
deliver him into the hands of enemies.
The eclipses of the following month deal with several
countries.
An eclipse in the month of Ab8 on the I4th day, proceeding from the
south to the east, beginning with the first watch, or with the morning watch,
and ending at sunrise, the shadow being seen in the south — the side of
obscuration — furnishes an omen for the king of Umliash. The soldiery
are engaged in severe conflicts for a year, and are slain by force of arms.
An eclipse happening on the 1 5th day,4 the king dies, and rains descend
from heaven, and floods fill the canals.
1 Under the same circumstances.
2 Lit., ' cattle ' ; but cattle appears to be used for ' property ' in general, just as
our English word ' chattel.'
;* 5th month.
4 Under the same circumstances.
366 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
An eclipse happening on the i6th day, the king of Babylonia dies.
Pestilence * feeds upon the country.
An eclipse happening on the 2Oth day, the king of the Hittites2 in
person (?) seizes the throne.
An eclipse happening on the 2ist day, a deity strikes (?) the king, and
fire consumes king and land.
From these specimens, the general principle of the section is
apparent. Since eclipses portend public and political disasters
of some kind, the compiler has carefully gathered oracles given
on previous occasions to some ruler, or observations of the
events that occurred at the time of the recorded eclipses. The
apparently restricted application of the omens was no hindrance
to their practical use. In the event of an astrologer being
consulted with regard to the significance of an eclipse on a cer-
tain day, his list would furnish a safe basis for further prognos-
tications, suitable to the political conditions that prevailed. But
in order to meet all contingencies, other lists furnishing further
omens for eclipses were added. The 22d tablet of the 'Illu-
mination of Bel ' series is followed by one 3 which, while dealing
with the same subject, approaches it somewhat differently, and
is based on a different principle. It begins again with the first
month, and in twelve paragraphs takes up in succession the
months of the year. Choosing for comparison the same three
months, the third, fourth, and fifth, which we selected in the
case of the 226. tablet, it will be seen that, while the references
are again to public affairs, the prognostications are of a more
general character and of wider applicability.
If in the 3d month an eclipse takes place on the I4th day, rains will
descend and flood the canals. Storms will cause inundations. The soldiery
of Babylonia will destroy the country. An eclipse on the 1 5th day indicates
that king against king will send troops.4 The king of legions dies. An
1 Lit., Nergal — the personification of pestilence and death.
2 Repeated in the text by an error of the scribe.
3 IIIR. 60, col. ii. 90 to col. iii. 24.
4 /.£., there will be war. One is reminded of the modern superstition which asso-
ciates war with the ' northern light ' in the heavens.
VARIOUS CLASSES OE OMENS. 367
eclipse on the i6th day signifies that the king will be slain, and that some
one will seize the throne.1 An eclipse on the 2Oth day means that the
king will hand his throne to his son. An eclipse happening on the 2ist
day portends rain,'2 and an invasion of the enemy's land.
For the 4th month an eclipse on the I4th day portends that rains will
descend and the canals will be flooded. Rains will cause inundations.
There will be famine. A large country will be reduced to a small one. An
eclipse on the 1 5th day portends that rains will descend, canals will be
flooded, and there will be famine in the land. An eclipse on the i6th day
portends famine for a year. An eclipse on the 2oth day portends destruc-
tion of the king and his army. An eclipse happening on the 2ist day indi-
cates that there will be a strong wind that will destroy the riches of the sea.3
For the 5th month an eclipse on the I4th day portends rains and flood-
ing of canals. The crops will be good and king will send peace to king.4
An eclipse on the 1 5th day portends destructive war. The land will be
filled with corpses. An eclipse, on the i6th day indicates that pregnant
women will be happily delivered of their offspring. An eclipse on the 2Oth
day portends that lions will cause terror and that reptiles will appear ; an
eclipse on the 2ist day that destruction (?) will overtake the riches of the
The vagueness of many of the prognostications is in all prob-
abilities intentional, just as we found to be the case in most of
the oracles announced to the kings. To predict rains during
the rainy months was comparatively safe. The storms which
visited Babylonia annually brought with them destruction of
cattle. They conditioned the fertility of the country, but
pestilence was often caused by the evaporation of the waters.
Again, military expeditions were usually undertaken in the
spring of the year before the great heat set in, and in a country
like Assyria, it was safe to hazard a vague prediction that hostil-
ities would ensue, and that some district would be diminished.
What may be called the 'eclectic' character of the omen
series under consideration thus becomes apparent. The lists
1 I.e., there will be sedition.
2 So a variant text.
8 /.£., will play havoc with the inhabitants of the deep.
4 J.e., there will be peace.
368 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
consisted, on the one hand, of omens obtained on certain
occasions and with reference to some specific circumstance,
such as a campaign against some country, and, on the other
hand, of prognostications of a more general character, based on
the general climatic conditions of the country, and referring to
events of frequent occurrence. All that the scribes in preparing
the series were concerned with, was to collect as many omens
as they could, and to arrange them in some convenient order.
Just as they prepared lists referring to military events, so they
put together others in which some other theme was treated.
The reports and omen tablets thus complement one another.
The latter are based on the former, and the former were
obtained by the interpretation of phenomena, furnished by the
tablets and applied to the particular case submitted to the
priests. We need not, of course, suppose that all prognostica-
tions found in the series, especially in those parts of it which
are of a more general character, were based upon reports actu-
ally made, any more than that the official reports to the kings
even in later days were always based upon a consultation of
some series of tablets. Individual judgment, both in compil-
ing a series and in interpreting phenomena, must at all times
have played some part. The reports and the series also embody
to some extent the results of experience not previously put to
writing; but these considerations do not alter the general
proposition set forth in this chapter as to the practical purpose
served by the omen series as well as by the reports, and the
pragmatic origin of both.
The importance of eclipses gave to omens connected with
such events a special significance. Eclipses, however, were after
all rare events, and while because of their rarity they always
portended something of great moment, still the ordinary phe-
nomena were the ones that had to be studied by the astrologers
with great care in order to obtain a rational view of the relation-
ship between the phenomena of nature and the fate of the indi-
VARIOUS CLASSES OF OMENS. 369
vidual or of the state. Again, eclipses, as a general thing,
pointed to a public disaster of some kind, and this recognized
belief lightened the task of the priest considerably in this
instance. In the case of ordinary phenomena it was much
more difficult to find the connection between cause and effect ;
and in the vast majority of instances when kings and individ-
uals sought the temples for omens, the heavens must have
presented a normal and not an abnormal appearance.
What answers were the priests to give to the questions put
to them ? Was it a favorable period for undertaking a military
campaign ? On what day should the king set out ? Was the
day fixed on by the council of war favorable for a battle ? On
what day should the foundation for the temple or palace be
laid ? Will the sick person recover ? Should one set out on a
proposed journey? Is the day fixed for a marriage auspicious?
Recognizing by experience that the same thing undertaken
at different times turned out differently, in the one case being
brought to a successful issue, in the other followed by mis-
fortune, the conclusion was forced upon the popular mind (as
already set forth above) that the day on which something was
done or was to be done was of great moment.
But how did one day differ from the other ? That was the
question for the priests to determine. During the hours that
the sun was in control, the clouds produced constant changes
in the appearance of the heavens, but because of their irreg-
ular character, these changes impressed the Babylonians less
forcibly than the striking changes that the nights showed.
The planets and stars never appeared alike on two successive
nights. There was always some change in the position of some
of the heavenly bodies. To these changes, then, the priests
directed their attention. In the variations presented by the
heavens at night they saw a potent reason for the varying
results produced by the same act undertaken at different
times.
370 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
If it made a difference at what moment something was done,
that difference could only be determined by observing the vari-
ations that one night presented from the other. The astrologers
observed that many of the stars were, or seemed to be, fixed
in their orbits; others rose and set like the sun and moon, and
appeared in different parts of the heavens at different seasons
of the year. The regularity of these changes made it possible
to study the course of these stars, and as knowledge progressed,
to determine also in advance where a particular body would be
seen at a certain time.
The planets accordingly were the bodies to which the
astrologers especially directed their attention. It has been
conjectured with some show of probability that one of the
purposes served by the lofty seven-staged towers,1 which were
attached to many of the great temples, was for the better obser-
vation of the movements of the planets. The official standing
of the astrologers is indicated by the references in texts to the
* court astrologer.'
However this may be, there is no doubt that at all the large
temples and at many of the smaller ones, observations of the
planets were recorded.
The collection of these observations formed the manuals for
the priests in answering many of the questions put to them.
Each of the great planets was identified (by a process of thought
that we will have occasion to describe) with some deity, though
this was not done until the attempt was also made to gather
the astrological knowledge of the day into some kind of con-
sistent system. Our own names of the planets, as handed
down to us through the Greeks and Romans, are but the clas-
sical equivalents of the Babylonian deities.2
Jupiter is Marduk, the head of the Babylonian pantheon.
Venus is the Babylonian Ishtar. Mars is Nergal, the god of
1 See the chapter on " The Temples of Babylonia and Assyria."
2 See Jensen, Kosmologie der Babylonier, pp. 134-139.
VARIOUS CLASSES OF OMENS, 371
war and pestilence. Mercury is Nabu, the god of wisdom and
the messenger of the gods, and Saturn is Ninib.
Among the astrological texts preserved, Ishtar- Venus figures
more prominently than the other planets. The appearance of
Ishtar during each month and for various days of the month
was noted, and then interpreted, partly on the basis of past
experience, but also by other factors that for the most part
escape us. A tablet, furnishing omens derived from the posi-
tion of the planet Venus and which may belong to the series
' Illumination of Bel,' deals with the periods of the disappear-
ance of Venus as evening star, and her reappearance as morn-
ing star, and vice versa.1
In the month of Tammuz (4th month) Venus disappeared on the 25th
day at sunset, for seven days was hidden,2 and on the 2d day of Ab (5th
month) was seen at sunrise. Rains in the land. Destruction of3 ...
In the month of Adar (i2th month) Venus disappeared on the 25th day
at sunrise. For a year (?) weapons are wielded4 (?), gold3 . . .
In the month of Marcheshwan (8th month), loth day, Venus disappeared
at sunrise, for two months and six days was hidden, and reappeared on the
i6th day of Tebet (icth month). There will be abundant crops.
In the month of Elul (6th month), 26th day, Venus disappeared at sun-
set, for eleven days was hidden, and in the second5 Elul, on the 7th day,
reappeared at sunset. The heart of the land is good.6
In the month of Nisan (ist month), on the 9th day, Venus disappeared
at sunsets (?), and for five months and sixteen days was hidden, and re-
appeared in the month of Elul (6th month), on the 25th day, at sunset.
The heart of the land is good.
In the month of Ab (5th month), loth day, Venus disappeared at
sunset7 (?), and for two8 months and sixteen days was hidden, and
reappeared on the 26th day of Marcheshwan (8th month). Rains in
the land.
In the month of Nisan, 2d day, Venus appeared at sunrise. There will
be distress in the land.
1 IIIR. 63. ^ 6 Intercalated month.
2 Lit., " delayed in the heavens." 6 /.^ it is a good sign.
3 Tablet defective. ' Tablet defective.
4 /.£., there is war. 8 Text erroneously ' one month,'
372 BABYLONIAN- ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
If Venus is stationary to the 6th day of Kislev (gth month) at sunrise,
and then disappears on the yth day of Kislev, and is hidden for three
months to reappear on the 8th day of Adar (i2th month) at sunset, it indi-
cates that king against king will send hostility.
In the month of Kislev (Qth month), loth day, Venus appeared at sun-
rise. Lack of corn and hay in the land. If she remains in position up to
the I4th day of Ab (5th month) at sunrise, and then on the I5th day
disappears, and for three months is hidden, and on the 1 5th day of March-
eshwan (8th month) rises at sunset, the crops of the land will be good.
A colophon informs us that the tablet in question embodies a
series of observations of the movements of Venus recorded by
Babylonian scholars. It was evidently the purpose of the
compilers to commit to writing as many variations in the
appearance and disappearance of the planet as possible. The
omens must either have been furnished at one time or they
embody actual occurrences that were observed in connection
with the observation recorded. In either case the omens served
as guides for the priests in their replies to inquiries. An omen
once furnished or an event once observed as having taken
place under given conditions of a planet served for all times.
The omen lists for the other planets were arranged on the
same principle as the Venus list. The motions of the planets
were carefully observed. It was noted whether they rose bril-
liantly or with a pale color. Their position towards other stars
was determined, and much more the like. Besides the planets,
various stars that were distinguished by their brilliancy, as Sirius,
Antares, Regulus, and also comets, were included in the sphere
of astronomical calculations, and furnished omens to the priests.
These omens, so far as we may judge from the texts at pres-
ent published, all hinge around the same series of events that
are referred to in the illustrations given, — rain, crops, war, dis-
tress, the country's prosperity, the king's welfare or misfortune.
Another piece of evidence is thus furnished for the hypothe-
sis that these lists are based upon reports made to royal masters,
and that the reports again are obtained from the lists prepared
VARIOUS CLASSES OF OMENS. 373
for public and political needs. We must not, however, conclude
from this fact that the observation of heavenly phenomena was
of no significance at all for the private individual, but only that
the position of the king and the general welfare of the country
were regarded of larger moment.
Just as the gods were held responsible chiefly for the larger
affairs of this world, the trifles being relegated to the spirits
and demons,1 so the planets and stars, as symbols of the gods,
were regarded as auguries for the chief of the country rather
than for the miscellaneous population, and more for the general
welfare than for individual prosperity. The individual shared
in the omen furnished, in so far as his well-being was dependent
upon such important contingencies as whether there was to be
war or peace, good crops or bad. A population so largely
engaged in agriculture as the Babylonians were, would be satis-
fied if they could be reassured as to the outcome of their work
in the fields. Ihering has properly emphasized the strong
hold that the conception of communal interests obtained in
Babylonia.2 This conception is reflected in the prominence
given to public and political affairs in the omen lists and
'omen' reports. Agriculture was the primal factor in producing
this conception in the south; war which united the population,
even though military service was forced upon the people, was
the second factor ; and in Assyria, where military expeditions
occupied a much larger share of public attention than in
Babylonia, war became the chief factor in keeping alive the
thought of national solidarity.
OMEN CALENDARS.
There was still another reason why the king and with him
public affairs, received such prominence in the omen texts. As
1 See above, p. 183.
2 See Ihering, Vorgcschichte der Indo-Eurofaer, pp. 182 seq.
374 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
the nation's ruler he was not only an important personage by
virtue of his power over his subjects, but also by virtue of his
close relationship to the gods. The theory of the ' divine right
of kings ' was rigidly adhered to in Babylonia and Assyria.
When the monarchs speak of themselves as nominated by this
or that god to be the ruler of the country, this was not a mere
phrase. The king was the vicar of the deity on earth, his rep-
resentative who enjoyed divine favor and who was admitted into
the confidence of the gods. In earlier days priestly functions
were indissolubly associated with kingship. The oldest kings
of Assyria call themselves * the priests of Ashur,' and it is only
as with the growth of political power a differentiation of func-
tions takes place that the priest, as the mediator between the
deity and his subjects, becomes distinct from the secular ruler.
The further development of this process led to the curious
but perfectly natural anomaly that the king, from being origi-
nally identical with the priest, becomes in large measure depend-
ent upon the latter in his relations to the gods. In the more
advanced stages of the religious cult, the king requires the ser-
vice of a priest to act as mediator between himself and the gods,
precisely as all of his subjects need this mediatorship. The
king cannot obtain an oracle directly. He must send to the
temple and inquire of the priests. The priest must intercede
for the king when he throws himself upon the mercy of an
angered god or goddess. The royal sacrifice is not acceptable
unless the priest stands by the side of the king.
Still there are traces left of the old direct relationship
existing between the king and his gods. A god sometimes
reveals himself directly to a ruler. Ishtar appears in a dream
and gives him directions. Another and more significant trace
of this older relationship is to be found in the importance
assigned to the religious conduct of the king. If an individual
offends a deity, the individual alone suffers, or at the most his
family is involved in the punishment inflicted; but if the king
VARIOUS CLASSES OF OMENS. 375
sins, the whole country suffers, and correspondingly the king's
atonement and reconciliation with the gods is essential for
dispelling some national calamity. Frazer has shown by his
admirable investigations1 that this view of kingship is common
to many nations of antiquity. While it did not lead among
the Babylonians and Assyrians to that extreme which is best
illustrated by Japan, where the Mikado, by virtue of his divine
right, is hedged in with prescribed formalities that make him
almost a prisoner, so closely is he watched by his attendants
lest any mistake be made by him which is certain to entail
serious consequences for the country, still the priests had to
see to it that the rulers performed their duties towards the gods
in the prescribed manner and with all possible accuracy.
The conduct of the king was of special significance at periods
when for some reason or other, the gods were not favorably
disposed. Partly on the basis of actual observation that eclipses
(which were especially feared) had occurred on certain days of
the month, partly as a consequence of the belief that the change
in the moon's phase augured something good or evil for human-
ity, and in part perhaps through the coincidence that on a certain
day of the month, mishaps of some kind had occurred several
times, certain months and certain days of each month were
regarded as favorable, while others were unfavorable. Some
months and some days were suitable for dedicating a building,
others were not. On some days an oracle might be sought, on
others not. Some days were days of rejoicing, on others again
mourning was appropriate. Advantage had to be taken of the
favorable days to keep the deity in good humor, and it was
equally important on the unfavorable ones to exercise great
care not to do aught which might arouse the anger of a god,
ready to be incensed. It is the king who can best accomplish
the one thing and avoid the other. To him, as standing nearer
the deity than any private individual, the country looked for
1 Sec The Golden Bough, passim.
376 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
safety and protection. Calendars were prepared for each
month of the year, in which the peculiar character of each day
was noted and instructions added what was to be done on each
day. These instructions all have reference to the king and to
the king alone. A complete calendar for the intercalated month
of Elul has heen preserved.1 It may serve as an example of the
branch of the omen literature to which it belongs.
The thirty days of each month are taken up in succession.
The deity to which each day is sacred is indicated, and various
sacrifices or precautions prescribed.
A curious feature of this calendar was that, since it was the
hope to make every day ' favorable,' each day was called so,
even when it is evident that it was not.
For the ist day of Elul the second,2 sacred to Anu and Bel, a favorable
day. When the moon makes its appearance in this month, the king of
many peoples brings his gift, a gazelle together with fruit, ... his gift to
Shamash, lord of the countries, and to Sin, the great god, he gives. Sacri-
fices he offers, and his prayer to his god 3 is acceptable.
On the 2d day sacred to goddesses, a favorable day. The king brings
his gift to Shamash, the lord 4 of countries. To Sin, the great god, he
offers sacrifices. His prayer to the god is acceptable.
On the 3d day, a day of supplication to Marduk and Sarpanitum, a
favorable day. At night, in the presence of Marduk and Ishtar,5 the king
brings his gift. Sacrifices he is to offer so that his prayer may be acceptable.
On the 6th day, sacred to Ramman and Belit,6 a favorable day. The
king, with prayer and supplication (?), at night in the presence of Ramman,
offers his gift. Sacrifices he is to bring so that his prayer may be acceptable.
On the yth day, supplication to Marduk and Sarpanitum, a favorable day
1 IV Rawlinson, pis. 32, 33.
2 />., the intercalated Elul. After the 6th month (Elul) and after the i2th (Adar),
a month was intercalated at certain intervals in order to bring the solar and lunar
years into conjunction.
3 Lit., ' raising of his hand to a god ' — the attitude in prayer.
4 Text erroneously ' mistress.'
5 Here and elsewhere Ishtar is used in a generic sense for ' chief goddess ' ; in the
oresent case Sarpanitum. See above, pp. 82, 151, 206.
6 ' Belit,' as ' mistress' in general.
VARIOUS CLASSES OF OMENS. 377
(sc. may it be). An evil day. The shepherd of many nations is not to eat
meat roasted by the fire, or any food prepared by the fire. The clothes of
his body he is not to change, fine dress (?) he is not to put on. Sacrifices
he is not to bring, nor is the king to ride in his chariot. He is not to hold
court nor is the priest to seek an oracle for him in the holy of holies.1 The
physician is not to be brought to the sick room.2 The day is not suitable
for invoking curses.3 At night, in the presence of Marduk and Ishtar, the
king is to bring his gift. Then he is to offer sacrifices so that his prayer
may be acceptable.
This yth day, it will be observed, is expressly called an evil
day. It is evident, therefore, that the phrase * favorable day '
in the first line expresses a hope and not a fact, or is added to
indicate the manner in which the day can be converted into a
favorable one. Just as the 7th day, so the i4th, 2ist, and 28th
are called evil days, and the same ceremonies are prescribed
for the king on these days. These days were evidently chosen
as corresponding to the phases of the moon. But besides
these four days, a fifth, namely, the igth, is singled out in the
same fashion. The comparison with the Biblical Sabbath nat-
urally suggests itself. The choice of the 7th day and of the
corresponding ones rests, of course, in both instances upon the
lunar calendar, and there is also this similarity between the Sab-
bath of the Hebrews and the ' evil day ' of the Babylonians,
that the precautions prescribed in the Pentateuchal codes —
against kindling fires, against leaving one's home, against any
productive labor — point to the Hebrew Sabbath as having
been at its origin an 'inauspicious day,' on which it was dan-
gerous to show oneself or to call the deity's attention to one's
existence. Despite the attempts made to change this day to
one of 'joy,' as Isaiah would have it,4 the Hebrew Sabbath con-
tinued to retain for a long time as a trace of its origin, a rather
severe and sombre aspect.
1 Lit., ' place of secrecy,' the reference being to that portion of the temple where
the god sat enthroned. 3 I.e., upon one's enemies.
2 I.e., of the palace. * Isaiah, Iviii. 13.
378 BABYLONIAAT-ASSYRIAN RELIGION
A striking difference, however, between the Babylonian and the
Hebrew rites is the absence in the latter of the theory that the
atonement of a single individual suffices for the community. The
precautions prescribed for the Sabbath are binding upon every
one. Emphasis is laid in the Pentateuch upon the fact that the
whole people is holy, whereas among the Babylonians the king
alone is holy. He alone is to abstain from his ordinary acts,
to conduct himself on the evil day with becoming humility, to
put on no fineries, not to indulge in dainty food,1 not to appear
in royal state, neither to appeal to the gods (for they will not
hear them), nor even to interfere with their workings by calling
in human aid against the demon of disease, who may have been
sent as the messenger of one of the gods. It is only at the
close of the day that he can bring a sacrifice which will be
acceptable. The king, by observing these precautions, insures
the welfare of his people. The gods cared little for individual
piety, but they kept a jealous eye on their earthly representative.
His appeals were heard if properly presented and if presented
at the right time, but woe to the people whose king has aroused
the divine anger. Just as his acts of penitence have a representa-
tive character, so the gifts and sacrifices and supplications men-
tioned in the calendar are offered by the king on behalf of the
whole people.
For the remaining days of Elul, the ordinances have much
the same character as those instanced. The variation consists
chiefly in the god or gods to whom the days are sacred. Now
it is Nabu and his consort Tashmitum — on the 4th, 8th, and
i yth days — to whom gifts and prayers are brought ; again Ninib
and his consort Gula, on the gth,2 — or Gula alone, on the
1 9th. To Marduk and Sarpanitum the i6th day is assigned,
besides the 3d and yth days as above set forth ; to Ramman and
his consort the 6th, to the old Bel and Belit the 5th, the i2th, the
1 Meat, just as wine, was considered at all times a symbol of joy in the Orient.
2 Perhaps also the 24th.
VARIOUS CLASSES OF OMENS. 379
25th, and to Nergal and Bau the 27th. At times two male
deities are in association. So Anu and Bel for the ist and the
3oth day, Ea and Nergal for the 28th, Sin and Shamash for the
1 8th, 2oth, 2ist, and 22d, or two goddesses, as Tashmitum and
Sarpanitum, or a god alone, as Ea for the 26th, or Sin alone for
the 1 3th, and once — the 2gth day — Sin and Shamash are com-
bined with the miscellaneous group of Igigi and Anunnaki. All
the great gods are thus represented in the calendar. The basis
on which the days are assigned still escapes us. It is hard to
believe that any strict uniformity existed in this respect in the
cults attached to the various Babylonian temples. Preference
would be shown in each center to the chief god worshipped
there, while to others would be assigned a position correspond-
ing to some theological system devised by the priests. Uni-
formity and consistency are two elements that must not be
looked for in the omen literature of any people. The very fact
that omens have some rational basis, namely, observation and
experience, is the very reason why the omen lists and omen cal-
endars of one place should differ from those of another, and pre-
cisely to the same degree that observation and experience differ.
The intercalated months, by virtue of their extraordinary
character, had perhaps a special significance, but every day of
the year had an importance of some kind. This is shown by a
Babylonian calendar, fortunately preserved in great part,1 in
which every day of the year is included, and either its character
noted or some precautions prescribed. The indications in this
calendar are marked by their brevity, and impress one as mem-
oranda, intended as a guide to the priests.
The calendar consists of twelve columns. At the head of
each column stands the name of one of the months. One or,
at the most, two lines are devoted to each day of the month,
the days being ranged in succession from one to thirty. For a
series of days in the 2d month the indications are:
1 V Rawlinson, pis. 48, 49.
380 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
2ist day, hostility.
22d day, judgment favorable, invoking of curses.
23d day, heart not good.
24th day, gladness of heart.
25th day, wife not to be approached, heart not good.
26th day, secret.
Such indications it is evident are intelligible only to the
initiated. With the help of the more complete calendars, such
as the one above explained, we can in most cases determine
what is meant by these memoranda. A note like * hostility ' is
an omen that the gods are unfavorably inclined on that day.
The 'judgment ' referred to on the 22d day is the oracle. The
day in question is suitable for obtaining a response to a ques-
tion put to the deity, and a favorable occasion for invoking
curses upon the enemy. It will be recalled that the yth day of
the second intercalated Elul is put down as one when it is not
advisable to secure the ill will of the god against the enemy.
An expression like ' heart not good ' is explained by the con-
trast * heart glad.' The 23d day of the month is a day of sor-
row, the 24th one on which one may be cheerful without arousing
the jealousy of the gods or demons. The 25th is again an
unfavorable day in which, as a precaution, sexual intercourse is
prohibited. Lastly, the word rendered ' secret ' l is the same
one that we came across in the precautions prescribed for the
7th day of the second Elul, where we are told that the
priest is not to enter the ' secret ' place. This term appears to
describe the ' holy of holies ' in the Babylonian temples where
the oracles were obtained. The single word ' secret ' was a
sufficient indication for the priest that on the day in question
he might enter the mysterious chamber of the temple without
trepidation.
Many of the days of the year are simply set down as
'favorable ' or ' unfavorable,' while others were noted as days
1 The plural is used, but in a collective sense.
VARIOUS CLASSES OF OMENS. 381
portending ' distress,' ' trouble,' ' tears,' ' injury," everything favor-
able,' * darkness,' ' moon obscured,' and the like. Of special
interest are the prohibitions regarding food on certain days.
On the gth day of the 2d month "fish is not to be eaten or
sickness will ensue." Swine's meat is forbidden on the 3oth
day of the 5th month, and in this case the particular kind of
sickness — disease of the joints — is specified that will ensue
in case of disobedience. On another day, the 25th of the yth
month, beef as well as pork is forbidden, while on the loth day
of the 8th month and the 2yth day of the 6th month, dates are
forbidden as a precaution against eye disease. One is not to
cross a stream1 on the 2oth day of the 5th month; on certain
days one is not to sell grain; other days are again noted as
specially favorable for military movements.
Some of the precautions prescribed in this calendar may have
been meant for the populace in general, such as the order not
to cross a stream or to strike a bargain. The belief in lucky
and unlucky days has a distinct popular flavor, but it is doubt-
ful whether the ordinary public consulted the priests, as a gen-
eral thing, in order to find out what days were lucky and what
not. It is more plausible to assume that the priests embodied
in their official calendars some of the notions that arose among
the people, and gave to them an official sanction.
There are a considerable number of references to the king in
the complete calendar under consideration, and we are permitted
to assume, therefore, that the calendar served as a further guide
for the priests in their instructions to the king. The allusion
to oracles, curses, and weapons points in this same direc-
tion, and when, as in a number of instances, a day is described
as one on which Shamash or some other god is 'angry,'
it is in all probabilities against the ruler rather than against
private individuals that the god's displeasure has been mani-
fested. A similar official and public character is borne by
1 The Euphrates or Tigris is no doubt meant.
382 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
another calendar, where months alone are indicated and their
significance interpreted.1 The twelve months are arranged fn
as many columns. Under each column the indications f favor-
able ' or * not ' are entered, while at the Bright end of the tablet
the specifications are added for what undertakings the month is,
or is not, favorable. One of these specifications is " the soldiery
to make an attack upon a hostile city," and upon referring to the
list of months, we learn that the 2d, 6th, yth, 8th, and i2th
months are favorable for such an undertaking, but the others
are ' not.' Again, the ist, 3d, 4th, 6th, 8th, gth, icth, and nth
are ' favorable ' for "the entrance of any army upon foreign
soil," but the remainder ' not.' The other specifications refer
likewise to the movements of the armies. Such a calendar was
evidently drawn up on the basis of omens, for a specific pur-
pose, and, we may add, for some specific expedition to serve as
a guide to the military commander. In the same way, cal-
endars were drawn up devoted to indications regarding crops
and for other purposes of public interest. To a more limited
extent, private affairs are also touched upon.
To enter upon a further discussion of details is unnecessary
at this point, and would carry us too far from the main purpose
of this chapter, which is to point out the diverse ways in which
the belief in omens is illustrated by the religious literature of
the Babylonians.
It is sufficient to have made clear that the oracles and dreams,
the lists of omens derived from eclipses, the works on the
planets and stars and the calendars, all have the same origin
due to observation of coincidences, to past experience, and to
a variety of combinations, some logical and some fanciful, of
supposed relationships between cause and effect ; and not only
the same origin, but the lists and calendars served also the same
main purpose of guides for the priests in replying to the ques-
tions put to them by their royal masters and in forwarding
1 IIIR. 52, no. 3, reverse.
VARIOUS CLASSES OF OMENS. 383
instructions to the ruler for the regulation of his own conduct
so that he and his people might enjoy the protection and good
will of the gods. But the observation of the phenomena of the
heavens, while playing perhaps the most prominent part in the
derivation of omens, was not the only resource at the command
of the priests for prognosticating the future. Almost daily,
strange signs might be observed among men and animals,
and whatever was strange was of necessity fraught with some
meaning. It was the business of the priest to discover that
meaning.
OMENS FROM TERRESTRIAL PHENOMENA.
Monstrosities, human and animal, and all species of mal-
formations aroused attention. The rarer their occurrence, the
greater the significance attached to them. In addition to this,
the movements of animals, the flight of birds, the appearance
of snakes at certain places, of locusts, lions, the actions of dogs,
the direction of the winds, the state of rivers, and all possible
accidents and experiences that men may encounter in their
house, in the street, in crossing streams, and in sleep were
observed. Everything in any way unusual was important, and
even common occurrences were of some significance. The exten-
sive omen literature thatwas produced in Babylonia is an indica-
tion of the extent to which men's lives were hedged in by the
belief in portents. Several thousand tablets in the portion of
AshurbanabaFs library that has been rescued from oblivion
through modern excavations, deal with omens of this general
class. Several distinct series, some embracing over one hundred
tablets, have already been distinguished. One of these series
deals with all kinds of peculiarities that occur in human infants
and in the young of animals; another with the things that may
happen to a man; a third with the movements of various ani-
mals, and more the like. As yet but a small portion of these
384 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
tablets have been published,1 but thanks to the indications
given by Dr. Bezold in his great catalogue of the Kouyunjik
Collection, a fair idea of the general character of the Babylonian
omen literature may be formed. On what principle the omens
were derived, it is again difficult to determine in detail, but
that some logical principles controlled the interpretations can-
not be doubted.
Jevohs has shown2 that in "sympathetic magic," — of which
the interpretation of omens is an offshoot, — the same logical
methods are followed as in modern science. The famous
' Chaldean wisdom,' which is to be looked for in this wide-
spread omen literature, would not have created so deep an
impression on the ancient world, if the theologians of the
Euphrates Valley, in incorporating primitive magic in the official
religion, had not been successful in giving to their interpreta-
tions of occurrences in nature and in the animal world, the
appearance, at least, of a consistent science.
Taking up as our first illustration the series devoted to birth
portents, it is interesting to observe the system followed in pre-
senting the various phases of the general subject. A broad
distinction is drawn between significant phenomena in the case
of human infants and in the case of the young of animals.
About a dozen tablets are taken up with an enumeration of
omens connected with new-born children, and one gains the
impression from the vast number of portents included in the
lists that originally every birth portended something. The fact
that births were of daily occurrence did not remove the sense
of mystery aroused by this sudden appearance of a new life.
Every part of the body was embraced in the omens : the ears,
eyes, mouth, nose, lips, arms, hands, feet, fingers, toes, breast,
generatory organs. Attention was directed to the shapes of
1 The most extensive publication of omens is Boissier's Documents Assyriens
Relatifs aux Presages, of which two volumes have appeared. Boissier's method of
publication is not altogether satisfactory.
2 Introduction to the History of Religions, pp. 28-35.
VARIOUS CLASSES OF OMENS. 385
these various members and organs. The ears of a child might
suggest the ears of a dog or of a lion or of a swine, and similarly
the nose, mouth, lips, hands, or feet might present a peculiar
appearance. A single member or the features in general might
be small or abnormally large. All these peculiarities meant
something; and since few if any children are born without pre-
senting some peculiarities in some part of the body, it would
seem as though the intention of the compilers of the series was
to provide a complete handbook for the interpretation of signs
connected with the birth of children. Naturally the total
absence of some member of the body in case of the r\ew-born
or any malformation was a sign of especial significance. Hence
we are told what was portended by a child born without hands
or feet or ears or lips, or with only one of these members, or
with only one eye, or with no mouth or no tongue, or with six
fingers on one or on both hands, or six toes on one or on both
feet, or without generatory organs.1
The rarer the phenomenon, the greater the significance is,
as we have seen, a general principle in the science of augury.
The birth of twins accordingly plays an important role in the
series. In fact, the opening tablet is devoted in part to this
phase of the subject. We are told, for example, that 2
If a woman gives birth to twins, one male and one female, it is an
unfavorable omen. The land is in favor,3 but that house (wherein the child
was born) will be reduced.
And again,
If a woman gives birth to twins, and both are brought out alive (?),4 but
the right hand of one is lacking, the ruler (?) will be killed by force, the
land will be diminished. . . .
1 A particularly bad omen. See IIIR. 65, 22, obverse.
2 Boissier, Documents Assyriens Rclatifs attx Presages, pp. 1 10 seq. Boissier has
published portions of some twenty tablets of the series, ib. pp. no-iSi.
3 f.e., will not suffer.
4 The phrase used is obscure. My translation is offered as a conjecture.
386 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
If a woman gives birth to twins, and both are brought out alive (?), but
neither of them have right hands, the produce of the country will be con-
sumed by the enemy.
If a woman gives birth to twins, and both are brought out alive (?), but
the right foot of one is missing, an enemy will for one year disturb the
fixed order of the country.1
It will be observed that these omens bear on public as well as
private affairs. The part played by public matters in them
varies, but that the king and the country are so frequently intro-
duced is an indication again of the official character given to
these omen tablets. Only priests whose chief concern was
with the court and the general welfare would have been
impelled to mingle in this curious way the fate of the indi-
vidual with that of the country at large. The birth of twins in
itself is an omen for the house where the event occurs; but
twins that are monstrosities, with a foot or a hand lacking,
portend something of import to the general welfare.
The tablet proceeds, after finishing one phase of the sub-
ject, with omens to be derived from infants whose features
resemble those of certain animals. In this case again we will
see that the mind of the compiler is now directed towards the
fate of the individual and again toward the ruler or the country.
In the 2d tablet of the series we read that
If a woman gives birth to a child with a lion's head,2 a strong king will
rule in the land.
If a woman gives birth to a child with a dog's head, the city in his dis-
trict 3 will be in distress, and evil will be in the country.
i. ..........
If a woman gives birth to a child with a swine's head, offspring and
possession (?) will increase in that house.
If a woman gives birth to a child with a bird's head, that land will be
destroyed.
1 /.£., an enemy will keep the land in turmoil.
2 /.., the flocks.
3 Boissier's text has ' man,' — probably an error for ' king.'
VARIOUS CLASSES OF OMENS, 395
ear betokens some good fortune, and in the tablet under con-
sideration, illustrations are afforded of accidents to the right
ear which furnish a good omen, while the same accident in the
case of the left ear is regarded as a bad omen.
Our text continues:
If the right ear of the young one is shrunk (?), the house of the owner
will prosper.
If the left ear is shrunk, the house of the owner will perish.
If the right ear is torn off, the house of the owner will prosper.
If the left ear is torn off, the house of the owner will perish.
But immediately following this we have again an evil omen
for the right ear and a favorable one for the left. Three more
tablets are taken up with omens associated with all manner of
peculiarities in the formation of the ears, head, lips, mouth, and
feet of lambkins, and it is not until the fifteenth tablet of the
series is reached that another subject, the young of mares, is
introduced.
The prognostications in the case of colts have about the
same character as those in the case of lambkins. The same
signs are singled out for mention, and the omens are not only,
just as in the illustrations adduced, evenly divided between the
fate of the country and its ruler, and of the owner of the colt or
mare, but we can also observe a consistent application of the
same principles, so far as these principles may be detected.
A few illustrations will make this clear: 1
If a colt has no right legs, the house 2 will be destroyed.
If a colt has no left legs, the days of the ruler will be long.
If a colt has no legs, the country will be destroyed.
If a colt has the right leg shortened,3 . . . his stall 4 will be destroyed.
If a colt has the left leg shortened, the stall * will be destroyed
If a colt has no hoof on the right foreleg, the wife will cause trouble to
her husband.
1 IIIR. 65, no. 2, observe. 3 Lit., ' cut off.'
2 Of the master. * Of the owner.
396 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
If a colt has no hoofs at all, there will be dissensions (?) within the
country, and the enemy will enter the ruler's land.
In this way, twenty-one omens derived from as many varie-
ties of strange formations in the legs of colts are enumerated.
As in the case of lambkins, so for colts, the appearance of
twins is endowed with a special significance.
If a mare gives birth to twins, male and female, and each has only one
eye, the enemy triumphs and devastates Babylonia.
If the male or female colt has a mane like a lion, the country will be
reduced.
If the male or female colt has a dog's hoof, the country will be reduced.
If the male or female colt has a lion's claw, the country will be enlarged.
If the male or female colt has a dog's head, the woman's l life will be
bad. The country will be reduced.
If the male or female colt has a lion's head, the ruler will be strong.
If both colts, the male and female, resemble lions, the ruler over his
enemies prevails (?).
If both colts, male and female, resemble dogs, the ruler over his enemy's
country prevails (?).
If either a male or female colt is born resembling a lion, the king will be
strong.
If either a male or female colt resembles a dog, herds of cattle will die,
and there will be famine.
If a colt is born without a head, its master will be strong.
If a colt is born without eyes, the god Bel will bring about a change of
dynasty.
If a colt is born without feet, the king increases his army and a slaughter
will ensue.
If a colt is born without ears, for three years the gods will reduce the
land.
If a colt is born without a tail, the ruler will die.
In conclusion it may be observed that, apart from the
unusual character of these freaks which would suffice to attrib-
ute a special import to them, the notions current among the
Babylonians, as among so many people of a period when
creatures existed, the various parts of which were compounded
1 The wife of the owner of the mare appears to be meant.
VARIOUS CLASSES OF OMENS. 397
of different animals, may be regarded as an additional factor that
served to add force to the class of omens we are considering.
The monsters guarding the approaches to temples and palaces1
were but one form which this popular belief assumed, and when
a colt was observed to have a lion's or a dog's claw, an ocular
demonstration was afforded which at once strengthened and
served to maintain a belief that at bottom is naught but a crude
and primitive form of a theory of evolution. In a dim way
man always felt the unity of the animal world. Animals resem-
bled one another, and man had some features in common with
animals. What more natural than to conclude that at some
period, the animals were composite creatures, and that even
mankind and the animal world were once blended together.
The prevailing religious and semi-mythological ideas, accord-
ingly, enter as factors in the significance that was attached to
infants or to the young of animals, serving as illustrations of
* hybrid ' formations.
OMENS FROM THE ACTIONS OF ANIMALS.
The same order of ideas, only still further extended, may be
detected in the sacredness attached to certain animals by so
many nations of antiquity. It is now generally admitted that
this ' sacredness ' has two sides. A sacred animal may be
' taboo,' that is, so sacred that it must not be touched, much less
killed or eaten; and, on the other hand, its original sanctity
may lead people to regard it as " unclean," something again to
be avoided, because of the power to do evil involved in the
primitive conception of ' sacredness.' 2
The swine and the dog are illustrations of this double nature
of sanctity among the Semites. The former was sacred to some
of the inhabitants of " Syria." 3 The Babylonians, as we have
1 See above, p. 138.
2 See Jevons, Introduction to the History of Religion, chapters vi.-ix.
3 Robertson Smith, Religion of the Semites, pp. 143, 273.
398 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION,
seen, abstained from eating it on certain days of the year,
while the Hebrews and Arabs regarded it as an absolute ' taboo.'
The dog to this day is in the Orient an " unclean " animal,
and yet it is forbidden to do dogs any injury. If, then, we find
the Babylonians attaching significance to the movements of this
animal, it is obvious that by them, too, the dog was regarded as,
in some way, sacred. It was an * animal of omen,' sometimes
good, at other times bad. A tablet informs us J that :
If a yellow dog enters a palace, it is a sign of a distressful fate for the
palace.
If a speckled dog enters a palace, the palace2 will give peace to the
enemy.
If a dog enters a palace and some one kills him, the peace of the palace
will be disturbed.
If a dog enters a palace and crouches on the couch, no one will enjoy
that palace in peace.
If a dog enters a palace and crouches on the throne, that palace will
suffer a distressful fate.
If a dog enters a palace and lies on a large bowl, the palace will secure
peace from the enemy.
There follow omens in case dogs enter a sacred edifice :
If a dog enters a temple, the gods will not enlarge the land.
If a white dog enters a temple, the foundation of that temple will be
firm.
If a black dog enters a temple, the foundation of that temple will not be
firm.
If a brown3 dog enters a temple, that temple will witness justice.
If a yellow dog enters a temple, that temple will 4 witness justice.
If a speckled dog enters a temple, the gods wrill show favor to that
temple.
If dogs gather together and enter a temple, the city's peace will be
disturbed.
1 Lenormant, Choix des Textes Cuneiformes, no. 89 ; Boissier, Documents, etc.,
p. 104.
2 /.£., the ruler of the palace.
3 Lit., « dark colored.'
4 ' Not,' perhaps omitted.
VARIOUS CLASSES OF OMENS. 399
The juxtaposition of palace and temple is an indication that
a large measure of sanctity was attached to the former as the
dwelling-place of one who stood near to the gods. The omens,
accordingly, in the case of both palace and temple are again
concerned with public affairs. But from the same tablet we
learn that an equal degree of significance was attached to the
actions of dogs when they entered private dwellings. Precau-
tions must have been taken against the presence of dogs in that
part of the house which was reserved for a man's family, for we
are told: L
A dog entering a man's house was an omen that the ultimate fate of that
house would be destruction by fire.
Care had to be taken lest dogs defiled a person or any part of
the house. The omens varied again according to the color of
the dog.
If a white dog defiles 2 a man, destruction will seize him.
If a black dog defiles a man, sickness will seize him.
If a brown dog defiles a man, that man will perish.
If a dog defiles a man's couch, a severe sickness will seize that man.
If a dog defiles a man's chair, the man will not survive the year.
If a dog defiles a man's bowl,3 a deity will show anger towards the man.
On the other hand, dogs were not to be driven out of the
streets. Their presence in the roads was essential to the wel-
fare of the place. Hence an omen reads:
If dogs do not enter the highway,4 destruction from an enemy will visit
the city.
Through Diodorus, Jamblichus, and other ancient writers we
know that the Babylonians and Assyrians attached importance
to the movements of other animals, notably serpents, birds, and
certain insects. The symbols on the boundary stones which
1 Boissier, p. 103. 3 Out of which one eats.
2 By vomiting on him. * J.e., keep away from it.
400 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
have been referred to l are based on this belief. The serpent
figures prominently among these symbols. In the Babylonian
deluge story, the dove, raven, and swallow are introduced. Of
these, the swallow appears to be the bird whose flight was most
carefully observed. The sign which represents this bird in the
cuneiform syllabary also signifies 'fate.'2 The mischief wrought
by swarms of insects, as grasshoppers and locusts, the danger
.lurking in the bites of scorpions sufficiently explain the impor-
tance attached to the actions of these animals. The mysterious
appearance and disappearance of serpents and their strange
twistings added an element in their case that increased the awe
they inspired, while if Ihering be correct,3 the omens derived
from the flight of birds are a survival of the migratory period
in the history of a nation, when birds served as a natural guide
in choosing the easiest course to pass from one place to
another. A large number of tablets in Ashurbanabal's library
treat of the significance attached to the action of these various
animals, and it is likely that these tablets form part of a large
series, of which the illustrations above adduced regarding the
movements of dogs form a part. In this series, the application
of the omens to individuals is more strongly emphasized than
in the series of birth portents. Naturally so, for it was the indi-
vidual as a general thing who encountered the signs. In the
case of the appearance of a serpent or snake, for example, the
omen consisted in the fact that a certain person beheld it, and
that person was involved in the consequences. Fine distinc-
tions are again introduced that illustrate the intricacies of the
system of interpretation perfected in Babylonia. If a snake
passes from the right to the left side of a man, it means one
thing; if from the left to the right, another; if the man who
1 See p. 182.
2 According to Hilprecht (Old Babylonian Inscriptions, \. part 2, p. 35), ' a goose
or similar water-bird ' was originally pictured by the sign, though he admits that the
picture was ' later ' used for swallow.
3 Vorgeschichte der Indo-Europaer, pp. 451-55.
VARIOUS CLASSES OF OMENS. 401
sees a snake does not tread upon it, the omen is different than
in the case when he attempts to crush it. Again the omen
varies according to the occupation of the man who encountered
a snake. If he be a gardener, the appearance of the snake
means something different than in the case of his being a
sailor.
The place where the animal appears is also of import^
whether in the street, the house, or the temple, and again, the
time of its appearance, in what month or on what day. In the
same way, an endless variety of omens are derived from
the appearance of certain birds, the direction of their flight, their
fluttering around the head of a man or entering a man's house.
So, e.g.,
If a raven1 enters a man's house, that man will secure whatever he
desires.
And again:
If a bird throws a bit of meat or anything into a man's house, that man
will secure a large fortune.
The omens from the appearance of flocks of birds in a town
bore, as appears natural, upon public affairs rather than upon
the fate of individuals, and similarly the appearance of birds in
a temple was an omen for the whole country.
The public or private character of the omens was thus depend-
ent in large measure upon the question whether the phenomena
appeared to an individual directly or to the population of a place
in general. Meeting a snake or scorpion in the course of a
walk through the fields was an individual omen, and similarly
the actions of sheep in a man's stall, whereas, a mad bull rush-
ing through the city was a general omen. So we are told that
If sheep in the stalls do not bleat (?), that stall will be destroyed.
1 The term used is Unagga, Bezold's Catalogue of the Koujuiijik Collection,
p. 1841. See Jensen, Kosmologie, p. 153.
402 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
Whereas l
A bull crouching at the gate of a city is an omen that the enemy will
capture that gate.
A bull goring an ox in the city is an unfavorable omen for the city, but
if the bull enters the precincts of an individual, it is favorable for the indi-
vidual.
A series of omens derived from the appearance of locusts
again illustrates this principle. When the insects enter private
precincts, the individual and his immediate surroundings are
affected.2
If black and speckled locusts appear in a man's house, the master of the
house will die.
If black and yellow locusts appear in a man's house, the supports of that
house will fall.
If large white locusts appear in a man's house, that house will be
destroyed and the owner will be in distress.
If white and brown locusts appear in a man's house, that house will be
destroyed.
If small white and brown locusts appear in a man's house, the house will
be destroyed and the owner will be in distress.
If yellow locusts appear in a man's house, the supports of that house will
fall and the owner of the house will be unlucky.
If yellow-winged locusts appear in a man's house, the master of the
house will die and that house will be overthrown.
OMENS FROM DREAMS.
It made little difference whether one encountered something
while awake or saw it in one's dream. In fact, what one saw
while asleep had as a general thing more importance. A
special god of dreams, Makhir, is often referred to in the
religious texts, and this is but another way of expressing the
belief that the dreams were sent to a man as omens. An
unusually wide scope was afforded to the compilers of omen
1 Bezold, Catalogue, p. 1710. 2 Boissier, Documents, etc., pp. 3, 4.
VARIOUS CLASSES OF OMENS. 403
serie^ in their interpretations of dreams, for what might not a
man see in visions of the night ! If a lion l appears to a man,
it means that the man will carry out his purpose; if a jackal, it
signifies that he will secure favor in the eyes of the gods ; a dog
portends sorrow; a mountain goat, that the man's son will die
of some disease; a stag, that his daughter will die; and so
through a long list.
Again we are told 2 that
If (in a dream) a date appears on a man's head,3 it means that that man
will be in distress.
If a fish appears on a man's head, that man will be powerful.
If a mountain appears on a man's head, that man will be without a rival.
If salt appears on a man's head, his house will be well protected (?).
Similarly, interpretations are offered for the apparition of the
dead or of demons, in dreams. The book of Daniel affords
an illustration of the importance attached to dreams in
Babylonia, and of the science developed out of the interpreta-
tions. The sarcastic touch introduced by the compiler of the
book,4 who represents Nebuchadnezzar as demanding of his
priests not merely to interpret his dream, but to tell him what
he dreamed, is intended to illustrate the limitations of the far-
famed ' Chaldean wisdom.' It is also interesting to note in
connection with the illustrations adduced, that the dreams of
Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar 5 in the book of Daniel are so
largely concerned with apparitions of animals.
-The omens taken from dreams, together with the accidents
that occurred to an individual, or the phenomena occuring in a
man's house, afford us an insight into the purely popular phases
of the science of augury. While eclipses and the movements of
planets bear chiefly and almost exclusively on public affairs, and
even birth portents frequently portend something to the ruler
1 Bezold, Catalogue, pp. 1437, 1438. 3 /^ over him.
2 Bezold, ib. p. 918. * Chapter ii. 4-6.
5 Chapter ii. 31-35, and vii. 2-12.
404 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
or to the country, it was through such omens as partook of a
purely personal character that the intentions of the gods towards
the individual were made manifest. By means of omens, the
bond between the individual and the gods was not, indeed,
established, but in large measure maintained. Here was a
phase of the religion that touched each individual closely.
What a person saw, what he dreamed, what happened to him,
what appeared in his house or among the members of his
household was of significance to him. To know what every
phenomenon portended was essential to his welfare; and we may
feel certain that the relations of the individual to the priests, so
far as these existed, consisted largely in obtaining from the
latter the interpretation of the omens that he encountered.
On the other hand, the power of the priests over the populace
was due to the popular belief in portents, and the attention
given by the theologians to the collection of exhaustive omen
series is a proof that the priests knew how to use their power.
These "Dream Books "must have been very numerous. The
success of the priests here depended even more than in other
branches of the omen literature upon exhausting, so far as pos-
sible, all contingencies. No doubt they were guided here also
by two factors: association of ideas, and past experience through
making of a single coincidence between a dream and some
occurrence, a principle of general application. Some of the
omens from dreams, however, appear to have themselves
formed part of a larger series dealing in general with
OMENS FROM INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCES.
If one may judge from the specimens furnished by Dr. Bezold
in his catalogue, this series was unusually extensive, embracing
a large number of subjects connected with human activity, — a
man's work in the field, his actions in commercial affairs, inci-
dents of travel on sea or land, his relations to his kindred — the
VARIOUS CLASSES OF OMENS. 405
dead as well as the living — disease and death, down to such
apparent trifles as the conditions of the walls of his house.
Cracks in the wall were an omen; meeting a snake in the high-
way was an omen. A fall was an omen; dropping an instrument
was an omen; in short, it is difficult to say what was not an
omen. The character of the omens in this series does not differ
in any essential particulars from those of other series. The
important feature of the series is that it affords another and
perhaps the most striking illustration of that phase of the omen
literature which concerns the individual directly, and, it seems
safe to add, exclusively.
Take, for example, omens connected with symptoms occur-
ring in certain diseases. We are told that
If the right breast is brown, it is a fatal (?) sign.
If both breasts are brown, there will be no recovery.
If the left breast is green, the sickness will be severe.
The symptoms affect the individual alone. Through this
series we are thus enabled to determine more definitely the
boundary line between omens involving the affairs of the
country and king, and those involving the individual. A phe-
nomenon affecting an individual, or appearing to him alone,
or brought about through some action of his of a purely
private character, carries in its train an omen of significance
for himself or his immediate surroundings ; but the moment
that these rather narrow limits are transcended, the fate of
the individual becomes more or less closely bound up with the
fortunes of the population and of the ruler of the country in
general. The series also illustrates, perhaps better than any
other, the control exercised by popular beliefs over the acts
of the individual. For we may conclude, that if work on cer-
tain days or' traveling at certain periods or the appearance of
certain animals indicated something unfavorable to a man, he
would studiously avoid bringing misfortune upon himself and
406 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
observe the precautions involved in the interpretation of the
vast mass of the accidents and incidents of existence. The task
was a difficult one, indeed, impossible of being carried out to
perfection, but this would not hinder him from making the
attempt. He was satisfied if he warded off at least a fair num-
ber of unfavorable omens. Correspondingly, he would endeavor
to so regulate his course as to encounter as large a number as
possible of omens that were favorable to him. In this way his
life would be spent with a constant thought of the gods and
spirits, who controlled all things in this world. The popular
belief in omens made it incumbent upon the individual not to
lose sight at any time of his dependance upon powers over
which he had but a limited control.
A certain phase of his religion thus entered largely into his
life. That phase would occupy him by day and by night. It
was a part of his religion which literally engaged him " upon
lying down at night, and upon rising up, while sitting in the
house, and while walking on the way." If, despite all his
efforts, misfortune came, — and misfortunes, of course, came
constantly, — there was no other recourse but to throw himself
upon the mercy of some god or gods. The gods, especially
Marduk, Ishtar, Shamash, and Ramman, by putting 'grace'
into the omens, could at any time change them into favorable
indications.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE COSMOLOGY OF THE BABYLONIANS.
'VARIOUS traditions were current in Babylonia regarding the
manner in which the universe came into existence. The labors
of the theologians to systematize these traditions did not suc-
ceed in bringing about their unification. Somewhat like in the
Book of Genesis, where two versions of the creation story have
been combined by some editor,1 so portions of what were
clearly two independent versions have been found among
the remains of Babylonian literature. But whereas in the Old
Testament the two versions are presented in combination so
as to form a harmonic whole, the two Babylonian versions
continued to exist side by side. There is no reason to sup-
pose that the versions were limited to two. In fact, a variant
to an important episode in the creation story has been dis-
covered which points to a third version.'2
The suggestion has been thrown out that these various
versions arose in the various religious centers of the Euphrates
Valley. So far as the editing of the versions is concerned,
the suggestion is worthy of consideration, for it is hardly reason-
able to suppose that the .theological schools of one and the
same place should have developed more than one cosmological
system. The traditions themselves, however, apart from the
1 The so-called Elohistic version, Gen. i. i-ii. 4 ; the Yahwistic version, Gen. ii.
5-24. Traces have been found in various portions of the Old Testament of other
popular versions regarding creation. See Gunkel, Schopfung und C/iaos, pp. 29-1 14,
119-121.
2 Gunkel, #. pp. 28, 29. What Sayce (e.g., Rcc. of the Past, N. s., i. 147, 148) calls
the ' Cuthaean legend of the creation ' contains, similarly, a variant description of
Tiamat and her brood.
408 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
literary form which they eventually assumed, need not have
been limited to certain districts nor have been peculiar to the
place where the systematization took place. Nothing is more
common than the interchange of myths and popular traditions.
They travel from one place to the other, and contradictory
accounts of one and the same event may be circulated, and
find credence in one and the same place.
The two distinct Babylonian versions of the creation of the
world that have up to the present time been found, have come
to us in a fragmentary form. Of the one, indeed, only some
forty lines exist, and these are introduced incidentally in an
incantation text ; l of the other version, portions of six tablets2
have been recovered; while of two fragments it is doubtful8
whether they belong to this same version or represent a third
version, as does certainly a fragment containing a variant
account of the episode described in the fourth tablet of the
larger group. The fragments of the longer version — in all
23 — enable us to form a tolerably complete picture of the
Babylonian cosmology, and with the help of numerous allusions
in historical, religious and astronomical texts and in classical
writers, we can furthermore fill out some of the gaps.
Taking up the longer version, which must for the present
serve as our chief source for the cosmology of the Babylonians,
it is important to note at the outset that the series constitutes,
in reality, a grand hymn in honor of Marduk. The account of
the beginning of things and of the order of creation is but
incidental to an episode which is intended to illustrate the
greatness of Marduk, the head of the Babylonian pantheon.
This episode is the conquest of a great monster known as
1 Published by Pinches, Journal Royal Asiat. Sac., 1891, pp. 393-408.
2 Complete publication by Delitzsch, Das Babylonische Weltschopftingsepos
(Leipzig, 1896) with elaborate commentary.
3 See Zimmern in Gunkel's Schopfung und C/iaos, pp. 415, 416, and on the other
side, Delitzsch, Babylonische WeltscJiopfungsepos, p. 20. Zimmern's doubts are
justified.
THE CO SAW LOGY OF THE BABYLONIANS. 409
Tiamat, — a personification, as we shall see, of primaeval chaos.
What follows upon this episode, likewise turns upon the over-
shadowing personality of Marduk. This prominence given to
Marduk points of course to Babylon as the place where the
early traditions received their literary form. Instead of desig-
nating the series as a ' Creation Epic ' it would be quite as
appropriate to call it 'The Epic of Marduk.'
The god of Babylon is the hero of the story. To him the
creation of the heavenly bodies is ascribed. It is he who
brings order and light into the world. He supplants the roles
originally belonging to other gods. Bel and Ea give way to
him. Anu and the other great gods cheerfully acknowledge
Marduk's power. The early traditions have all been colored
by the endeavor to glorify Marduk; and since Marduk is one
of the latest of the gods to come into prominence, we must
descend some centuries below Hammurabi before reaching a
period when Marduk's position was so generally recognized as
to lead to a transformation of popular traditions at the hands
of the theologians.
The evident purpose of the 'epic' to glorify Marduk also
accounts for the imperfect manner in which the creation of the
universe is recounted. Only the general points are touched
upon. Many details are omitted which in a cosmological
epic, composed for the specific purpose of setting forth the
order of creation, would hardly have been wanting. In this
respect, the Babylonian version again resembles the Biblical
account of creation, which is similarly marked by its brevity,
and is as significant for its omissions as for what it
contains.
It but remains before passing on to an analysis of the ' epic '
to note the great care bestowed upon its literary form. This is
evidenced not only by the poetic diction, but by its metrical
form, — a point to which Budge was the first to direct attention 1
1 Proc. Soc. Bill. Arch. vi. 7.
410 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
and which Zimmern l clearly established. Each line consists
of two divisions, and as a general thing four or eight lines
constitute a stanza. The principle of parallelism, so charac-
teristic of Biblical poetry, is also introduced, though not con-
sistently carried out.
The epic was known from its opening words as the series
' when above.' Through this name we are certain of possessing
a portion of the first tablet — but alas ! only a portion. A
fragment of fifteen lines and these imperfectly preserved is all
that has as yet been found. So far as decipherable, it reads :
There was a time when above the heaven was not named.2
Below, the earth bore no name.
Apsu was there from the first, the source of both 3
And raging Tiamat the mother of both.3
But their waters 4 were gathered together in a mass.
No field was marked off, no soil5 was seen.
When none of the gods was as yet produced,
No name mentioned, no fate determined,
Then were created the gods in their totality.
Lakhmu and Lakhamu, were created.
Days went by6 ...
Anshar and Kishar were created.
Many days elapsed6 . . .
Anu [Bel and Ea were created].7
Anshar, Anu (?) . . .
1 Zeits.f. Assyr. viii. 121-124. Delitzsch, in his Babylonische Weltschopfungs-
epos, pp. 61-68, has elaborately set forth the principles of the poetic composition.
See also D. H. Mueller, Die Proplieten in ihrer urspriinglichen Form, pp. 5-14.
2 /.£., did not exist. To be ' called ' or to ' bear a name ' meant to be called into
existence.
3 /.£., of heaven and earth.
* I.e., of Apsu and Tiamat.
5 The word used is obscure. Jensen and Zimmern render " reed." Delitzsch, I
think, comes nearer the real meaning with " marsh." See Haupt's translation, Proc.
Amer. Oriental Soc.. 1896, p. 161.
6 Delitzsch supplies a parallel phrase like "periods elapsed."
7 Supplied from Damascius' extract of the work of Berosus on Babylonia. See
Cory, Ancient Fragments, p. 92 ; Delitzsch, Babylonische \Vcltschopfnngscpos, p. 94
THE COSMOLOGY OF THE BABYLONIANS. 411
At this point the fragment breaks off.
Brief as it is, it affords a clear view of the manner in which
the Babylonians regarded the beginning of things. Water
was the primaeval element. * Apsu ' is the personified great
'ocean'-— the 'Deep' that covers everything. With Apsu
there is associated Tiamat. Tiamat is the equivalent of the
Hebrew T'hom,1 which occurs in the second verse of the open-
ing chapter of Genesis, and which is, like Apsu, the personifica-
tion of the * watery deep.' Apsu and Tiamat are, accordingly,
synonymous. The combination of the two may be regarded as
due to the introduction of the theological doctrine which we
have seen plays so prominent a part in the systematized pan-
theon, namely, the association of the male and female principle
in everything connected with activity or with the life of the
universe. Apsu represents the male and Tiamat the female
principle of the primaeval universe. It does not follow from
this that the two conceptions are wholly dissociated from popu-
lar traditions. Theological systems, it will be found, are
always attached at some point to popular and often to primitive
beliefs.
Tiamat was popularly pictured as a huge monster of a for-
bidding aspect. Traces of a similar conception connected
with T'hom are to be met with in the poetry of the Old and
New Testament.2 The ' Rahab ' and 'Leviathan' and the
' Dragon ' of the apocalypse belong to the same order of ideas
that produced Tiamat. All these monsters represent a popular
attempt to picture the chaotic condition that prevailed before
the great gods obtained control and established the order of
heavenly and terrestrial phenomena. The belief that water
1 The o is represented in Babylonian by d, and the ending at in Tiamat is an
affix which stamps the Babylonian name as feminine. T'h6m in Hebrew is likewise
a feminine noun, but it should be noted that at a certain stage in the development
of the Semitic languages, the feminine is hardly distinguishable from the plural and
collective.
2 Gunkel, Schopftmg und Chaos, pp. 29-82, 379-398.
412 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
was the original element existing in the universe and the
* source ' of everything, may also have had its rise in the popular
mind. It was suggested in the Euphrates Valley, in part, by the
long-continued rainy season, as a result of which the entire
region was annually flooded. The dry land and vegetation
appeared, only after the waters had receded. The yearly phe-
nomenon brought home to the minds of the Babylonians, a
picture of primaeval chaos.
In the schools of theology that arose with the advance of
citlture, these two notions — water as the first element and a
general conception of chaos — were worked out with the result
that Apsu and Tiamat became mythical beings whose dominion
preceded that of the gods. Further than this the question-
ings of the schoolmen did not go. They conceived of a time
when neither the upper firmament nor the dry land existed and
when the gods were not yet placed in control, but they could
not conceive of a time when there was ' nothing ' at all. This
cosmological theory which we may deduce from the fragment
of the first tablet of the creation series is confirmed by the
accounts that have come down to us — chiefly through Damas-
cius — of the treatment of the subject by Berosus.1 Damascius
explicitly places the Babylonians among those nations who
fail to carry back the universe to an ultimate single source.
There is nothing earlier than the two beings — Apsu and
Tiimat.2
The massing together of the primaeval waters completes the
picture of chaos in the cuneiform account. From the popular
side, the commingling corresponds to the Tbhu wa Bbhti of the
Book of Genesis, but for the Babylonian theologians, this
embrace of Apsu and Tiamat becomes a symbol of ' sexual '
1 For our purposes it is sufficient to refer for the relations existing between
Damascius and the cuneiform records to Smith's Chaldaeische Genesis, pp. 63-66, to
Lenormant's Essai de Commentaire sur les fragments Cosmogoniques de Berose,
pp. 67 seq., and to Jensen's Kosmologie der Babylonier, pp. 270-272.
2 The names are given by Damascius as Apason and Tauthe.
THE COSMOLOGY OF THE BABYLONIANS. 413
union.1 As the outcome of this union, the gods are produced.
This dependence of the gods upon Apsu and Tiamat is but
vaguely indicated. Another theory appears to have existed
according to which the gods were contemporaneous with
primaeval chaos. The vagueness may therefore be the result
of a compromise between conflicting schools of thought.
However this may be, the moment that the gods appear, a
conflict ensues between them and Apsu-Tiamat. This con-
flict represents the evolution from chaos to order. But before
taking up this phase of the epic, a few words must be said
as to the names of the gods mentioned, and as to the order in
which they occur.
There are three classes of deities enumerated. The first
two classes consist, each, of a pair of deities while the third is
the well-known triad of the old Babylonian theology. Be-
tween the creation of each class a long period elapses — a
circumstance that may be regarded as an evidence of the
originally independent character of each class. Now it has
recently been shown 2 that Lakhamu is the feminine of Lakhmu.
The first class of deities is, therefore, an illustration again of
the conventional male and female principles introduced into
the current theology. While there are references to Lakhmu
and Lakhamu in the religious texts,3 particularly in incanta-
tions, these two deities play no part whatsoever in the active
pantheon, as revealed by the historical texts. In popular
tradition, 4 Lakhmu survived as a name of a mythical
monster.
Alexander Polyhistor 5 quotes Berosus as saying in his book
on Babylonia that the first result of the mixture of water and
1 Suggested by Professor Haupt (Schrader, Cuneiform Inscriptions and the Old
Testament, p. 7).
2 Hommel, Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch, xviii. 19.
3 See Jensen, Kosmologie, pp. 224, 225.
4 Agumkakrimi Inscription (VR. 33, 5v. 50) ; Nabonnedos (Cylinder, VR. 64, ii.
16, 17). 5 Cory's Ancient Fragments, p. 58.
414 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
chaos — i.e., of Apsu and Tiamat — was the production of
monsters partly human, partly bestial. The winged bulls and
lions that guarded the approaches to temples and palaces are
illustrations of this old notion, and it is to this class of
mythical beings that Lakhmu belongs. The schools of theol-
ogy, seizing hold of this popular tradition, add again to
Lakhmu a female mate and convert the tradition into a symbol
of the first step in the evolution of order out of the original
chaos. Lakhmu and Lakhamu are made to stand for an entire
class of beings that are the offspring of Apsu and Tiamat.
This class does not differ essentially from Apsu and Tiamat,
nor from the ' Leviathan,' the * Dragon,' the winged serpents,
and the winged bulls that are all emanations of the same order
of ideas. Accordingly, we find Lakhmu and Lakhamu asso-
ciated with Tiamat when the conflict with the gods begins.
They are products of chaos and yet at the same time contem-
porary with chaos, — monsters not so fierce as Tiamat, but
withal monsters who had to be subdued before the planets and
the stars, vegetation and man could appear.
The introduction of Anshar and Kishar as intermediate
between the monsters and the triad of gods appears to be due
entirely to the attempt at theological systematization that
clearly stamps the creation epic as the conscious work of
schoolmen, though shaped, as must always be borne in mind,
out of the material furnished by popular tradition. In con-
nection with the etymology and original form of the chief of
the Assyrian pantheon,1 the suggestion was made that the
introduction of Anshar into the creation epic is a concession
made to the prominence that Ashur acquired in the north.
We are now able to put this suggestion in a more defi-
nite form. The pantheon of the north, as we have seen, was
derived from the south. Not that all the gods of the south
are worshipped in the north, but those that are worshipped
1 See above, pp. 198, 199.
THE COSMOLOGY OF THE BABYLONIANS. 415
in the north are also found in the south, and originate there.
The distinctive features of Ashur are due to the political con-
ditions that were developed in Assyria, but the unfolding of
the conceptions connected with this god which make him the
characteristic deity of Assyria, indeed, the only distinctive
Assyrian figure in the Assyrian pantheon, does not preclude
the possibility, of the southern origin of Ashur.
If, as has been made plausible by Hommel, Nineveh, the
later capital of the Assyrian empire, represents a settlement
made by inhabitants of a Nineveh situated in the south,
there is no reason why a southern deity bearing the name
Anshar should not have been transferred from the south to
the north. The attempt has been made l to explain the change
from Anshar to Ashur. The later name Ashur, because of its
ominous character, effectually effaced the earlier one in popular
thought. The introduction of the older form Anshar, not
merely in the first tablet of the creation series, but, as we shall
presently see, elsewhere, confirms the view of a southern
origin for Ashur, and also points to the great antiquity of the
Anshar-Ashur cult. It is not uncommon to find colonies more
conservative in matters of religious thought and custom than
the motherland, and there is nothing improbable in the inter-
esting conclusion thus reached that Ashur, the head of an
empire, so much later in point of time than Babylonia, should
turn out to be an older deity than the chief personage in the
Babylonian pantheon after the days of Hammurabi.
But while Anshar-Ashur under this view is a figure surviving
from an ancient period, he is transformed by association with a
complementary deity Kishar into a symbol, just as we have
found to be the case with Lakhmu. By a play upon his name,
resting upon an arbitrary division of Anshar into An and Shar,
the deity becomes the 'one that embraces all that is above.'
The element An is the same that we have in Aim, and is the
1 See above, pp. 198, 199.
416 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
'ideographic'1 form for 'high' and 'heaven.' Shar signifies
' totality ' and has some connection with a well-known Baby-
lonian word for ' king.' The natural consort to an all-embrac-
ing upper power is a power that ' embraces all that is below ' ;
and since Ki is the ideographic form for ' earth,' it is evident
that Ki-Shar is a creation of the theologians, introduced in
order to supply Anshar with an appropriate associate. The
two in combination represent a pair like Lakhmu and Lak-
hamu. As the latter pair embrace the world of monsters, so
Anshar and Kishar stand in the theological system for the
older order of gods, a class of deities antecedent to the series
of which Anu, Bel, and Ea are the representatives. Besides
the antiquity of Anshar and the factor involved in the play upon
the name, the prominence of the Ashur cult in the north also
entered into play (as already suggested) in securing for Anshar-
Ashur, a place in the systematized cosmology. The Babylonian
priests, while always emphasizing the predominance of Marduk,
could not entirely resist the influences that came to them from
the north. Ashur was not accorded a place in the Babylonian
cult, but he could not be ignored altogether. Moreover, Assy-
ria had her priests and schools, and we are permitted to see in
the introduction of Anshar in the creation epic, a concession
that reflects the influence, no doubt indirect, and in part per-
haps unconscious, but for all that, the decided influence of the
north over the south. The part played by Anshar in the most
important episode of the creation epic will be found to further
strengthen this view.2
Kishar, at all events, forms no part of either the Babylonian
or of the active Assyrian pantheon. She does not occur in his-
torical or religious texts. Her existence is purely theoretical —
a creation of the schools without any warrant in popular tradi-
1 I avoid the term " Sumerian " here, because I feel convinced that the play on
Anshar is of an entirely artificial character and has no philological basis.
2 See below, pp. 421-423.
THE COSMOLOGY OF THE BABYLONIANS. 417
tion, so far as we can see. A tablet is fortunately preserved 1
(though only in part) which enables us to come a step nearer
towards determining the character of the series of powers re-
garded as antecedent to the well-known deities. In this tablet,
no less than ten pairs of deities are enumerated that are ex-
pressly noted as * Father-mother of Anu,' that is, as antecedent
to Anu.2 Among these we find Anshar and Kishar, and by
their side, such pairs as Anshar-gal, />., ' great totality of what
is on high,' and Kishar-gal, />., 'great totality of what is be-
low,' Enshar and Ninshar, i.e., ' lord ' and ' mistress,' respec-
tively, of * all there is,' Du'ar and Da'ur, forms of a stem which
may signify ' perpetuity,' Alala, i.e., ' strength,' and a consort
Belili. Lakhmu and Lakhamu are also found in the list. While
some of the names are quite obscure, and the composition of
the list is due to the scholastic spirit emanating from the
schools of theology, the fact that some of the deities, as
Alala, Belili, Lakhmu, and Lakhamu, occur in incantations
shows that the theologians were guided in part by dimmed tra-
ditions of some deities that were worshipped prior to the ones
whose cult became prominent in historic times. Anshar, Alala,
Belili, Lakhmu, and Du'ar were such deities. To each of these
an associate was given, in accord with the established doctrine
of 'duality' that characterizes the more advanced of the ancient
Semitic cults in general. Others, like Anshar-gal and Enshar,
seem to be pure abstractions — perhaps only * variants ' of
Anshar, and the number ten may have some mystical signifi-
cance that escapes us. So much, at all events, seems certain
that even the old Babylonian pantheon, as revealed by the
oldest historical texts, represents a comparatively advanced
stage of the religion when some still older gods had already
yielded to others and a system was already in part produced
which left out of consideration these older deities. This is
1 IIR. 54, no. 3..
2 For a different interpretation of the phrase, see Jensen, Kosmologie, pp. 273,274.
418 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
indicated by the occurrence of the triad Anu, Bel, and Ea as
early as the days of Gudea,1 and it is this triad which in
the creation epic follows upon the older series symbolized by
Anshar and Kishar. The later * theology ' found a solution of
the problem by assuming four series of deities represented
by Apsu and Tiamat, by Lakhmu and Lakhamu, by Anshar
and Kishar, and by the triad Anu, Bel, and Ea.
In a vague way, as we have seen, Apsu and Tiamat are the
progenitors of Lakhmu and Lakhamu. The priority, again, of
Lakhmu and Lakhamu, as well as of Anshar and Kishar, is
expressed by making them ' ancestors ' of Anu, Bel and Ea.
While in the list above referred to, Lakhmu and Lakhamu are
put in a class with Anshar and Kishar, in the creation epic they
form a separate class, and Delitzsch has justly recognized,2 in
this separation, the intention of the compilers to emphasize an
advance in the evolution of chaos to order, which is the key-
note of the Babylonian cosmology. Lakhmu and Lakhamu
represent the * monster ' world where creatures are produced
in strange confusion, whereas Anshar and Kishar indicate a
division of the universe into two distinct and sharply denned
parts. The splitting of ' chaos ' is the first step towards its
final disappearance.
The creation of Anshar and Kishar marks indeed the
beginning of a severe conquest which ends in the overthrow of
Tiamat, and while in the present form of the epic, the contest
is not decided before Anu, Bel, and Ea and the chief deities of
the historic pantheon are created, one can see traces of an
earlier form of the tradition in which Anshar — perhaps with
some associates — is the chief figure in the strife.
Of the first tablet, we have two further fragments supplement-
ing one another, in which the beginnings of this terrible conflict
are described. With Apsu and Tiamat there are associated a
1 See p. 107.
2 Babylonische Weltschopfungsepos, p. 94.
THE COSMOLOGY OF THE BABYLONIANS. 419
variety of monsters who prepare themselves for the fray. The
existence of these associates shows that the 'epic' does not
aim to account for the real origin of things, but only for the
origin of the order of the universe. At the beginning there
was chaos, but * chaos,' so far from representing emptiness (as
came to be the case under a monotheistic conception of the
universe) was on the contrary marked by a superabundant
fullness.
Through Alexander Polyhistor,1 as already mentioned, we
obtain a satisfactory description of this period of chaos as
furnished by Berosus. At the time when all was darkness and
water, there flourished strange monsters, human beings with
wings, beings with two heads, male and female, hybrid forma-
tions, half-man, half-animal, with horns of rams and horses'
hoofs, bulls with human faces, dogs with fourfold bodies end-
ing in fish tails, horses with heads of dogs, and various other
monstrosities.
This account of Berosus is now confirmed by the cuneiform
records. The associates of Tiamat are described in a manner
that leaves no doubt as to their being the monsters referred to.
We are told that
Ummu-Khubur,2 the creator of everything, added
Strong warriors, creating great serpents,
Sharp of tooth, merciless in attack.
With poison in place of blood, she filled their bodies.
Furious vipers she clothed with terror,
Fitted them out with awful splendor, made them high of stature (?)
That their countenance might inspire terror and arouse horror,
Their bodies inflated, their attack irresistible.
1 Cory's Ancient Fragments, p. 58.
2 An epithet descriptive of Tiamat. " Ummu " is " mother " and " khubur " signi-
fies " hollow " ; " mother of the hollow " would be a poetic expression for " source of
the deep," and an appropriate term to apply to TiSmat. It has nothing to do with
Omoroka. The latter, as Wright has shown, is a corruption of " O Marduk " (Zeits.
/. Assyr. x. ;i-74)-
420 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
She set up basilisks (?) great serpents and monsters 1
A great monster, a mad dog, a scorpion-man
A raging monster, a fish-man, a great bull,
Carrying merciless weapons, not dreading battle.
In all, eleven monstrous beings are created by Tiamat for
the great conquest. At their head she places a being Kingu,
whom she raises to the dignity of a consort.
The formal installation of Kingu is described as follows:
She raised Kingu among them to be their chief.
To march at the head of the forces, to lead the assembly.
To command the weapons to strike, to give the orders for the fray.
To be the first in war, supreme in triumph.
She ordained him and clothed him with authority (?).
Tiamat then addresses Kingu directly:
Through my word to thee, I have made thee the greatest among the
gods.
The rule over all the gods I have placed in thy hand.
The greatest shall thou be, thou, my consort, my only one.
Tiamat thereupon
Gives him the tablets of fate, hangs them on his breast, and dismisses
him.
'Thy command be invincible, thy order authoritative.'2
The plan /of procedure, it would appear, is the result of a
council of war held by Apsu and Tiamat, who feel themselves
powerless to carry on the contest by themselves. The portion
of the tablet 3 in which this council is recounted is in so bad a
condition that but little can be made out of it. Associated
with Apsu and Tiamat in council, is a being Mummu, and
since Damascius expressly notes on the direct authority of
1 The word used is Lakhami, the plural of Lakhamu.
2 This scene, the description of the monsters and the installation of Kingu, occurs
four times in the ' Epic.' See p. 424.
3 Delitzsch, Babylonische Weltschopfungsepos, p. 25.
THE COSMOLOGY OF THE BABYLONIANS. 421
Berosus that Apsu and Tiamat produced a son Moumis,1 there
is every reason to believe that Mummu represents this off-
spring. In the subsequent narrative, however, neither Apsu
nor Mummu play any part. Tiamat has transferred to Kingu
and the eleven monsters all authority, and it is only after
they are defeated that Tiamat — but Tiamat alone — enters
the fray.
The rage of Tiamat is directed against Anshar, Kishar, and
their offspring. Anu, Bel, and Ea, while standing at the head of
the latter, are not the only gods introduced. When the con-
test begins, all the great gods and also the minor ones are in
existence.
The cause of Tiamat's rage is indicated, though vaguely, in
the portions preserved. In the opening lines of the epic
there is a reference to the time ' when fates were not yet
decided.' The decision of fates is in the Babylonian theology
one of the chief functions of the gods. It constitutes the
mainspring of their power. To decide fates is practically to
control the arrangement of the universe — to establish order.
It is this function which arouses the natural opposition of
Tiamat and her brood, for Tiamat feels that once the gods in
control, her sway must come to an end. On the part of the
gods there is great terror. They are anxious to conciliate
Tiamat and are not actuated by any motives of rivalry. Order
is not aggressive. It is chaos which manifests opposition to
' order.' In the second tablet of the series, Anshar sends his
son Anu with a message to Tiamat :
Go and step before Tiamat.
May her liver be pacified, her heart softened.
Anu obeys, but at the sight of Tiamat's awful visage takes
flight. It is unfortunate that the second tablet is so badly pre-
served. We are dependent largely upon conjecture for what
1 Cory, ib. p. 92.
422 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
follows the failure of Anu's mission. From references in
subsequent tablets, it seems certain that Anshar sends out Ea
as a second messenger and that Ea also fails. Tiamat is
determined upon destroying the gods, or at least upon keep-
ing from them the * decision of fates.' Anshar, it will be seen,
stands at the head of the pantheon, and it seems natural that
he, and not one of his offspring, should be the final victor.
This indeed appears to have been the original form of the
myth or at least one form of it. In a second form it was Bel
to whom the victory was ascribed, and this Bel of the triad, we
have seen, was En-lil, the chief god of Nippur ; but both
Anshar and Bel must give way to the patron deity of the
city of Babylon — Marduk. Anshar- Ashur, the head of the
Assyrian pantheon, could not be tolerated by the Babylonian
priests as a power superior to Marduk. On the other hand,
Anshar could not be set aside, for he survived in popular tradi-
tion. The result is a compromise. Marduk gains the victory
over Tiamat, but is commissioned to do so by the assembly of
the gods, including Anshar. As for the older Bel, he volun-
tarily transfers to Marduk his name. In this way, the god Bel
of the triad becomes one with Marduk.
Perhaps in one religious center and at a time when Ea
was the chief god, still another version existed which assigned
the triumph to Ea, for as will be pointed out, traditions waver
between assigning to Ea or to Bel-Marduk so fundamental a
function as the creation of mankind. In short, the present
form of the creation epic is ' eclectic ' and embodies what
the Germans call a tendenz. To each of the great gods, Anshar,
Anu, Bel, and Ea, some part in the contest is assigned, but the
greatest role belongs to Marduk.
The second tablet closes with Anshar's decision to send his
son Marduk against Tiamat :
Marduk heard the word of his father.
His heart rejoiced and to his father he spoke.
THE COSMOLOGY OF THE BABYLONIANS. 423
With joyous heart he is ready to proceed to the contest, but
he at once makes good his claim to supreme control in case he
is victorious. He addresses the assembled gods :
When I shall have become your avenger,
Binding Tiamat and saving your life,
Then come in a body,
In Ubshu-kenna,1 let yourselves down joyfully,
My authority instead of yours will assume control,
Unchangeable shall be whatever I do,
Irrevocable and irresistible, be the command of my lips.
The declaration foreshadows the result.
The third tablet is taken up with the preliminaries for the
great contest, and is interesting chiefly because of the insight
it affords us into Babylonian methods of literary composition.
Anshar sends Gaga2 to the hostile camp with the formal
announcement of Marduk's readiness to take up the cause of
the gods. Gaga does not face Tiamat directly, but leaves the
message with Lakhmu and Lakhamu :
Go Gaga, messenger (?) joy of my liver,
To Lakhmu and Lakhamu I will send thee.
The message proper begins as follows :
Anshar your son has sent me,
The desire of his heart he has entrusted to me.
Tiamat, our mother is full of hate towards us,
With all her might she is bitterly enraged.
The eleven associates that Tiamat has ranged on her side are
again enumerated, together with the appointment of Kingu as
chief of the terror-inspiring army. Gaga comes to Lakhmu
1 " The chamber of fates " where Marduk sits on New Year's Day and decides the
fate of mankind for the ensuing year. Jensen and Zimmern read upshugina, but
see Delitzsch, Babylonische Weltschopfungsepos, p. 135.
2 The deity is mentioned by Sennacherib (Meissnet-Rost,fiaumsc/iri:ften, p. 108).
See above, p. 238.
424 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
and Lakhamu and delivers the message verbatim, so that alto-
gether this portion of the narrative is repeated no less than four
times.1 The same tendency towards repetition is met with in
the Gilgamesh epic and in the best of the literary productions
of Babylonia. It may be ascribed to the influence exerted by
the religious hymns and incantations where repetition, as we
have seen, is also common, though serving a good purpose.
The message concludes:
I sent Arm, he could not endure her2 presence.
Ea 3 was afraid and took to flight.
Marduk has stepped forward, the chief of the gods, your son,
To proceed against Tiamat, he has set his mind.
Marduk's declaration is then repeated.
Upon hearing the message Lakhmu and Lakhamu and " all
the Igigi"4 are distressed, but are powerless to avert the coming
disaster. The formal declaration of war having been sent, the
followers of Anshar assemble at a meal which is realistically
described:
They ate bread, they drank wine.
The sweet wine took away their senses.
They became drunk, and their bodies swelled up.
With this description the third tablet closes.
The meal symbolizes the solemn gathering of the gods. At
its conclusion, so it would seem, Marduk is formally installed
as the leader to proceed against Tiamat. The gods vie with one
another in showering honors upon Marduk. They encourage
him for the fight by praising his unique powers:
1 In the first tablet, in the second in connection with the mission of Anu, and
twice in the third in connection with Marduk's visit.
2 Tiamat's presence.
3 Called Nudimmud. Delitzsch, Babylonische Weltsch'dpfungscpos. p. 99, questions
the identity with Ea, but his skepticism is unwarranted, though the title is also used
of Bel.
4 Here used to comprise the army of Tiamat.
THE COSMOLOGY OF THE BABYLONIANS. 425
Thou art honored among the great gods,
Thy destiny is unique, thy command is Anu.1
Marduk, thou.art honored among the great gods,
Thy destiny is unique, thy command is Anu,
Henceforth thy order is absolute.
To elevate and to lower is in thy hands,
What issues from thee is fixed, thy order cannot be opposed,
None among the gods may trespass upon thy dominion.
Thy weapons will never be vanquished; they will shatter thy enemies.
O lord ! grant life to him who trusts in thee,
But destroy the life of the god who plots evil.
As a proof of the power thus entrusted to Marduk, the gods
give the latter a ' sign.' Marduk performs a miracle. A gar-
ment is placed in the midst of the gods.
Command that the dress disappear !
Then command that the dress return !
Marduk proceeds to the test.
As he gave the command, the dress disappeared.
He spoke again and the dress was there.
This ' sign,' which reminds one of Yahwe's signs to Moses
as a proof of the latter's power,2 is to be regarded as an indica-
tion that " destruction and creation " are in Marduk's hands.
The gods rejoice at the exhibition of Marduk's power. In
chorus they exclaim, "Marduk is king." The insignia of royalty,
throne, sceptre, and authority are conferred upon him.
Now go against Tiamat, cut off her life,
Let the winds carry her blood to hidden regions.3
Marduk thereupon fashions his weapons for the fray. Myth
and realism are strangely intertwined in the description of these
1 /.£., thy power is equal to that of Anu.
2 Exod. iv. 2-8 ; other parallels might be adduced.
3 I*., far off.
426 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
weapons. Bow and quiver, the lance and club are mentioned,
together with the storm and the lightning flash. In addition to
this he
Constructs a net wherewith to enclose the life of Tiamat.
The four winds he grasped so that she could not escape.1
The south and north winds, the east and west winds
He brought to the net, which was the gift of his father Anu.
His outfit is not yet complete.
He creates a destructive wind, a storm, a hurricane,
Making of the four winds, seven2 destructive and fatal ones;
Then he let loose the winds he created, the seven,
To destroy the life 3 of Tiamat, they followed after him.
Marduk, taking his most powerful weapon in his hand,4
mounts his chariot, which is driven by fiery steeds. The
picture thus furnished of the god, standing upright in his
chariot, with his weapons hung about him and the seven winds
following in his wake, is most impressive.
He makes straight for the hostile camp. The sight of the
god inspires terror on all sides.
The lord comes nearer with his eye fixed upon Tiamat,
Piercing with his glance (?) Kingu her consort.
Kingu starts back in alarm. He cannot endure the * majestic
halo ' which surrounds Marduk. Kingu's associates — the
monsters — are terrified at their leader's discomfiture. Tiamat
alone does not lose her courage.
Marduk, brandishing his great weapon, addresses Tiamat:
Why hast thou set thy mind upon stirring up destructive contest?
1 I.e., that a wind might not carry her off.
2 Adding three to the ordinary winds from the four directions.
3 For the explanation of the term used in the original — kirbish — see Delitzsch's
excellent remarks, Babylonische Weltschopfungsepos, pp. 132-134.
4 Lit., 'storm/ — perhaps the thunderbolt, as Delitzsch suggests.
THE COSMOLOGY OF THE BABYLONIANS. 427
He reproaches her for the hatred she has shown towards the
gods, and boldly calls her out to the contest :
Stand up ! I and thou, come let us fight.
Tiamat's rage at this challenge is superbly pictured :
When Tiamat heard these words
She acted as possessed, her senses left her;
Tiamat shrieked wild and loud,
Trembling and shaking down to her foundations.
She pronounced an incantation, uttered her sacred formula.
Marduk is undismayed:
Then Tiamat and Marduk, chief of the gods, advanced towards one
another.
They advanced to the contest, drew nigh for fight.
The fight and discomfiture of Tiamat are next described:
The lord spread out his net in order to enclose her.
The destructive wind, which was behind him, he sent forth into her face.
As Tiamat opened her mouth full wide,
He 1 drove in the destructive wind, so that she could not close her lips.
The strong winds inflated her stomach.
Her heart was beset,2 she opened still wider her mouth,3
He seized the spear and plunged it into her stomach,
He pierced her entrails, he tore through her heart,
He seized hold of her and put an end to her life,
He threw down her carcass and stepped upon her.
The method employed by Marduk is so graphically described
that no comment is necessary. After having vanquished Tia-
mat, the valiant Marduk attacks her associates. They try to flee,
but he captures them all — including Kingu — without much
difficulty and puts them into his great net. Most important of
1 Marduk.
2 She lost her reason.
3 Gasping, as it were, for breath.
428 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
all, he tears the tablets of fate from Kingu and places them on
his breast. This act marks the final victory. Henceforth, the
gods with Marduk — and no longer Tiamat and her brood —
^decree the fate of the universe. There is great rejoicing among
the gods, who heap presents and offerings upon Marduk. As
the vanquisher of chaos, Marduk is naturally singled out to
be the establisher of the fixed form and order of the universe.
The close of the fourth tablet describes this work of the god,
and the subject is continued in the following ones. Unfor-
tunately, these tablets are badly preserved, so that we are far from
having a complete view of the various acts of Marduk. He
begins by taking the carcass of Tiamat and cutting it in half.
He cuts her like one does a flattened fish into two halves.
Previous to this he had trampled upon her and smashed her
skull, as we are expressly told, so that the comparison of the
monster, thus pressed out, to a flattened fish is appropriate.
He splits her lengthwise.
The one half he fashioned as a covering for the heavens,
Attaching a bolt and placing there a guardian,
With orders not to permit the waters to come out.
It is evident that the canopy of heaven is meant. Such is
the enormous size of Tiamat that one-half of her body flattened
out so as to serve as a curtain, is stretched across the heavens
to keep the * upper waters ' — ' the waters above the firmament'
as the Book of Genesis puts it — from coming down. To
ensure the execution of this design a bolt is drawn in front of
the canopy and a guardian placed there, like at a city wall, to
prevent any one or anything from coming out.
This act corresponds closely to the creation of a " firmament "
in the first chapter of Genesis. The interpretation is borne out
by the statement of Alexander Polyhistor who, quoting from
Berosus, states that out of one-half of Tiamat the heavens were
THE COSMOLOGY OF THE BABYLONIANS. 429
made.1 The further statement that out of the other half the
earth was fashioned is not definitely stated in our version of
the creation. The narrative proceeds as follows :
He passed through the heavens, he inspected the expanse.2
To understand this phrase, we must consider the general
character of the " epic," which is, as we have already seen, a
composite production, formed of popular elements and of more
advanced speculations. The popular element is the interpre-
tation of the storms and rains that regularly visit the Euphrates
Valley before the summer season sets in, as a conflict between
a monster and the solar deity Marduk. After a struggle, winds
at last drive the waters back ; Tiamat is vanquished by the
entrance of the * bad wind' into her body. The sun appears in
the heavens and runs across the expanse, passing in his course
over the entire vault. The conflict, which in the scholastic system
of the theologians is placed at the beginning of things, is in
reality a phenomenon of annual occurrence. The endeavor to
make Marduk more than what he originally was — a solar deity
—leads to the introduction of a variety of episodes that properly
belong to a different class of deities. For all that, the orignal
role of Marduk is not obscured. Marduk's passage across the
heavens is a trace of the popular phases of the nature myth,
and while in one sense, it is appropriately introduced after the
fashioning of the expanse, it more properly follows immediately
upon the conflict with Tiamat. In short, we have reached a
point in the narrative where the nature myth symbolizing the
annual succession of the seasons blends with a cosmological
system which is the product of comparatively advanced schools
of thought, in such a manner as to render it difficult to draw
the line where myth ends and cosmological system begins. For
1 Cory's Ancient Fragments, p. 49.
2 Lit., ' places,' here used as a synonym for ' heavens,' as an Assyrian commen-
tator expressly states. See Delitzsch's remarks (Babylonische Weltschopfimgsepos,
p. 147) against Jensen's and Zimmern's interpretation.
430 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
the moment, the nature myth controls the course of the nar-
rative. The sun, upon running its course across the heavens,
appears to drop into the great ocean, which the Babylonians, in
common with many ancient nations, imagined to surround and
to pass underneath the earth.
Hence the next act undertaken by Marduk is the regulation
of the course of this subterranean sea. The name given to this
sea was Apsu. Marduk however does not create the Apsu.
It is in existence at the beginning of things, but he places it
under the control of Ea.
In front of Apsu, he prepared the dwelling of Nu-dimmud.1
This Apsu, as we learn from other sources,2 flows on all sides
of the earth, and since it also fills the hollow under the earth,
the latter in reality rests upon the Apsu. Ea is frequently called
" the lord of Apsu," but the creation epic, in assigning to Mar-
duk the privilege of preparing the dwelling of Ea, reverses the
true order of things, which may still be seen in the common
belief that made Marduk the son of Ea. Marduk, the sun
rising up out of the ocean, becomes the offspring of Ea, and
even the political supremacy of Marduk could not set aside the
prerogatives of Ea in the popular mind. In the cosmological
system, however, as developed in the schools, such an attempt
was made. While recognizing the * deep ' as the domain of Ea,
the theologians saved Marduk's honor by having him take a
part in fixing Ea's dwelling and in determining its limitations.
With the carcass of Tiamat stretched across the upper firma-
ment and safely guarded, and with the Apsu under control, the
way is clear for the formation of the earth. This act in the
drama of creation is referred to in the following lineSj though
in a manner, that is not free from obscurity. The earth is
pictured as a great structure placed over the Apsu and corre-
sponding in dimension with it — at least in one direction.
1 /.£., Ea. See above, p. 424, note 3.
2 The complete proof is brought by Jensen, Kosmologie, pp. 246-253.
THE COSMOLOGY OF THE BABYLONIANS. 431
The lord measured out the structure of Apsu.
Corresponding to it, he fashioned a great structure l Esharra.
Esharra is a poetical designation of the earth and signifies,
as Jensen has satisfactorily shown, " house of fullness" 2 or
" house of fertility." The earth is regarded as a great struc-
ture, and placed as it is over the Apsu, its size is dependent
upon the latter. Its measurement from one end to the other
cannot exceed the width of the Apsu, nor can it be any nar-
rower. The ends of the earth span the great Apsu. The follow-
ing line specifies the shape given to Esharra :
The great structure Esharra,' which he made as a heavenly vault.
The earth is not a sphere according to Babylonian ideas, but
a hollow hemisphere having an appearance exactly like the
vault of heaven, but placed in position beneath the heavenly
canopy. As a hemisphere it suggests the picture of a mountain,
rising at one end, mounting to a culminating point, and de-
scending at the other end. Hence by the side of Esharra,
another name by which the earth was known was Ekur, that
is, * the mountain house.'
Diodorus Seculus, in speaking of the Babylonian cosmology,
employs a happy illustration. He says that according to Baby-
lonian notions the world is a " boat turned upside down." The
kind of boat meant is, as Lenormant recognized,3 the deep-bot-
tomed round skiff with curved edges that is still used for
carrying loads across and along the Euphrates and Tigris, the
same kind of boat that the compilers of Genesis had in view
when describing Noah's Ark. The appearance in outline thus
presented by the three divisions of the universe — the heavens,
the earth, and the waters — would be that of two heavy rain-
1 To render the word used as " Palace" (so Delitzsch), while not incorrect, is some-
what misleading.
2 Kosmologie, p. 199.
3 Magie und Wahrsagekunst der Chaldaer, p. 163.
432 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
bows, one beneath the other at some distance apart, resting
upon a large body of water that flows around the horizons of
both rainbows, and also fills the hollow of the second one.1
The upper ' rainbow ' is formed by one-half of the carcass of
Tiamat stretched across in semi-circular shape ; the lower one
is the great structure Esharra made by Marduk, while the Apsu
underneath is the dwelling of Ea. The creation epic, it may be
noted once more, takes much for granted. Its chief aim being
to glorify Marduk, but little emphasis is laid upon details of
interest to us. The parcelling out of these three divisions
among Anu, Bel, and Ea is therefore merely alluded to in the
closing line of the fourth tablet :
He established the districts 2 of Anu, Bel, and Ea.
The narrative assumes what we know from other sources,
that the heavens constitute the domain of Anu, Esharra belongs
to Bel, while Apsu belongs to Ea.
The mention of the triad takes us away from popular myth
to the scholastic system as devised by the theologians. The
establishment of the triad in full control marks the introduction
of fixed order into the universe. All traces of Tiamat have dis-
appeared. Anu, Bel, and Ea symbolize the eternal laws of the
universe.
There are, as we have seen, two factors involved in the role
assigned to Marduk in the version of the creation epic under
consideration, — one the original character of the god as a solar
deity, the other the later position of the god as the head of the
Babylonian pantheon. In the 'epic,' the fight of Marduk with
Tiamat belongs to Marduk as a solar deity. The myth is
based, as was above suggested,3 upon the annual phenomenon
witnessed in Babylonia when the whole valley is flooded and
1 See the illustration in Jensen's Kosmologie, pi. 3.
2 The word used also means " cities." A Babylonian district is naught but an
extended city. 3 See p. 429.
THE COSMOLOGY OF THE BABYLONIANS. 433
storms sweep across the plains. The sun is obscured. A
conflict is going on between the waters and storms, on the one
hand, and the sun, on the other hand. The latter finally is
victorious. Marduk subdues Tiamat, fixes limitations to the
' upper and lower waters,' and triumphantly marches across
the heavens from one end to the other, as general overseer.
This nature myth was admirably adapted to serve as the
point of departure for the enlargement of the role of Marduk,
rendered necessary by the advancement of the god to the head
of the pantheon. Everything had to be ascribed to Marduk.
Not merely humanity, but the gods also had to acknowledge,
and acknowledge freely, the supremacy of Marduk.
The solar deity thus becomes a power at whose command the
laws of the universe are established, the earth created and all
that is on it. In thus making Marduk the single creator, the
theologians were as much under the influence of Marduk's
political supremacy, as they helped to confirm that supremacy
by their system. With this object in view, the annual phenom-
enon was transformed into an account of what happened 'once
upon a time.'
What impressed the thinkers most in the universe was the
regular working of the laws of nature. Ascribing these laws to
Marduk, they naturally pictured the beginnings of things as
a lawless period. Into the old and popular Marduk-Tiamat
nature myth, certain touches were thus introduced that changed
its entire character. This once done, it was a comparatively
simple matter to follow up the conflict of Marduk and Tiamat
by a series of acts on Marduk's part, completing the work of
general creation. The old nature myth ended with the con-
quest of the rains and storm and the establishment of the sun's
regular course, precisely as the deluge story in Genesis, which
contains echoes of the Marduk-Tiamat myth, ends with the
promulgation of the fixed laws of the universe.1
1 Gen. viii. 22,
434 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
What follows upon this episode in the Babylonian epic is the
elaboration of the central theme, worked out in the schools of
Babylonian thought and intended, on the one hand, to illus-
trate Marduk's position as creator and, on the other, to formu-
late the details of the cosmological system.
With the fifth tablet, therefore, we leave the domain of popular
myth completely and pass into the domain of cosmological
speculation. Fragmentary as the fifth tablet is, enough is pre-
served to show that it assumes the perfection of the zodiacal
system of the Babylonian schools and the complete regulation l
of the calendar. In this zodiacal system, as has been intimated
and as will be more fully set forth in a special chapter, the
planets and stars are identified with the gods. The gods have
their ' stations ' and their * pictures ' in the starry sky. The
stars are the ' drawings' or ' designs of heaven.' It is Marduk
again who is represented as arranging these stations :
He established the stations for the great gods.2
The stars, their likeness,3 he set up as constellations.4
He fixed the year and marked the divisions.5
The twelve months he divided among three stars.
From the beginning of the year till the close (?)
He established the station of Nibir6 to indicate their boundary.
So that there might be no deviation nor wandering away from the course
He established with him,7 the stations of Bel and Ea.
An epitome of the astronomical science of the Babylonians is
comprised in these lines. The gods being identified with stars
1 See above, p. 370, and chapter xxii.
2 I.e., for each of the great gods. 3 I.e., of the gods.
4 A particular group of stars — the masJii stars — is mentioned, but the term
seems to be used in a rather general sense. I cannot share Delitzsch's extreme
skepticism with regard to the interpretation of the fifth tablet. Jensen seems to have
solved the chief difficulties.
5 Jensen and Zimmern interpret " he drew the pictures," referring the phrase to
the contours of the stars ; but the parallelism speaks in favor of connecting the
words with the " year." The divisions of the year or seasons seem to be meant.
6 /.£., the planet Marduk, or Jupiter. 7 /.e., with Nibir.
THE COSMOLOGY OF THE BABYLONIANS. 435
and each of the latter having its place in the heavens ' to estab-
lish the stations for the great gods' is equivalent to putting the
stars in position. The regulation of the year forms part of the
astronomical science. The three stars that constitute ' divisions '
to aid in marking off the months are Nibir, Bel, and Ea. That
the Babylonians had such a system as is here outlined is con-
firmed by Diodorus Seculus.1 The position of Nibir, or Jupiter,
whose course keeps closer to the ecliptic than that of any other
planet, served as an important guide in calendrical calculations.
The stars are represented as clinging to their course through
maintaining their relationship to Nibir, while at the side of
Nibir and as additional guides, Bel is identified with the north
pole of the equator and Ea with a star in the extreme southern
heavens, to be sought for, perhaps, in the constellation Argo.
The description concludes :
He attached large gates to both sides,
Made the bolt secure to the left and right.
The heavens are thus made firm by two gates, fastened with
bolts and placed at either end. Through one of these gates
the sun passes out in the morning, and at evening enters into
the other. But the most important body in the heavens is the
moon. Its functions are described in an interesting way :
In the midst 2 he made the zenith 3 (?)
Nannar4 he caused to go forth and handed over to him5 the night.
He fixed him 6 as the luminary of night to mark off the days.
The passage is made clear by a reference to the Book of
Genesis, i. 16, where we are told that the moon was created 'for
the rule of night.' A distinction between the Biblical and the
cuneiform cosmology at this point is no less significant. While
1 See Jensen, Kosmologie, p. 354. 'George Smith already interpreted the passage
in this way. 2 /.e., of the heavens. Delitzsch renders " Schwerpunkt."
8 Text eldti. Jensen, Zimmern, and Halevy translate " zenith," but Delitzsch
questions this. * The moon-god. 5 I.e., the moon.
436 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
according to Babylonian ideas, the moon alone, or at most the
moon with the stars, regulates the days, the Hebrew version
makes the moon and sun together the basis for the regulation
of the ' days and years.' The sun according to Babylonian
notions does not properly belong to the heavens, since it passes
daily beyond the limits of the latter. The sun, therefore, plays
an insignificant part in the calendrical system in comparison
with the moon.
Marduk addresses the moon, specifying its duties, what
position it is to occupy towards the sun at certain periods
during the monthly course, and the like. The tablet at this
point becomes defective, and before the address comes to an
end, we are left entirely in the lurch. To speculate as to the
further contents of the fifth tablet and of the sixth (of which
nothing has as yet been found) seems idle. Zimmern supposes
that after the heavenly phenomena had been disposed of, the
formation of the dry land and of the seas was taken up, and
Delitzsch is of the opinion that in the sixth tablet the creation
of plants and trees and animals was also recounted. I venture
to question whether the creation of the * dry land and seas ' was
specifically mentioned. Esharra, the earth, is in existence
and the Apsu appears to include all waters, but that the epic
treated of the creation of plant and animal life and then of the
creation of man is eminently likely. We have indeed a frag-
ment of a tablet 1 in which the creation of the * cattle of the
field, beasts of the field, and creeping things of the field ' is
referred to; but since it is the 'gods who in unison' are there
represented as having created the animal kingdom, it is hardly
likely that the fragment forms part of our ' epic ' in which all
deeds are ascribed to Marduk. It belongs in all probability to
a different cosmological version, but so much can be concluded
from it, that the Babylonians ascribed the creation of animals
to some divine power or powers ; and that therefore our 'epic'
1 Published by Delitzsch, Assyrische Lesestiicke (3d edition), p. 94.
i
THE COSMOLOGY OF THE BABYLONIANS. 437
must have contained a section in which this act was assigned
to Marduk.
A similar variation exists with reference to the tradition of
the creation of mankind. There are distinct traces that the
belief was current in parts of Babylonia which made Ea the
creation of mankind.1 Ea, it will be recalled, is the 'god of
humanity ' par excellence, and yet in the seventh (and probably
closing) tablet of the series, Marduk is spoken of as the one
"who created mankind."2
Variant traditions of this kind point to the existence of
various centers of culture and thought in rivalry with one
another. The great paean to Marduk would have been sadly
incomplete had it not contained an account of the creation of
mankind — the crowning work of the universe — by the head of
the Babylonian pantheon. It is possible, therefore, that a tablet
containing the address of a deity to mankind belongs to our
series 8 and embodies orders and warnings given by Marduk
after the creation of man, just as he addresses the moon after
establishing it in the heavens. Purity of heart is enjoined as
pleasing to the deity. Prayer and supplication and prostration
are also commanded It is said that
Fear of god begets mercy,
Sacrifice prolongs life,
And prayer dissolves sin.
The tablet continues in this strain. It is perhaps not the kind
of address that we would expect Marduk to make after the act
of creation, but for the present we must content ourselves with
this conjecture, as also with the supposition that the creation of
mankind constituted the final act in the great drama in which
Marduk is the hero.
When Marduk's work is finished, the Igigi gather around
him in adoration. This scene is described in a tablet which for
1 See the proof as put together by Jensen, Kosmologie, pp. 293, 294.
- Line 15. 8 So Delitzsch, Babylonische Wcltschopfiingsepos, pp. 19, 20.
438 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
the present we may regard 1 as the close of the series. No less
than fifty names are bestowed upon him by the gods, the
number fifty corresponding according to some traditions to the
number of the Igigi. Marduk accordingly absorbs the qualities
of all the gods. Such is the purpose of this tablet. The
diction is at times exceedingly impressive.
God of pure life, they called [him] in the third place, the bearer of puri-
fication.
God of favorable wind,2 lord of response 3 and of mercy,
Creator of abundance and fullness, granter of blessings,
Who increases the things that were small,
Whose favorable wind we experienced in sore distress.
Thus let them4 speak and glorify and be obedient to him.
The gods recall with gratitude Marduk's service in vanquish-
ing Tiamat. Marduk is also praised for the mercy he showed
towards the associates of Tiamat, whom he merely captured
without putting them to death.
As the god of the shining crown in the fourth place, let them [i.e., man-
kind] exalt him.
The lord of cleansing incantation, the restorer of the dead to life,
Who showed mercy towards the captured gods,
Removed the yoke from the gods who were hostile to him.
A later fancy identified the ' captured gods ' with eleven of the
heavenly constellations.5
Mankind is enjoined not to forget Marduk
Who created mankind out of kindness towards them,
The merciful one, with whom is the power of giving life.
May his deeds remain and never be forgotten
By humanity, created by his hands.
1 Following Delitzsch, Babylonische Weltschdpftmgsepos, pp. 20, 21. I pass
over two fragments which Delitzsch adds to our ' epic.' They are not sufficiently
clear to be utilized for our purposes. Delitzsch may be right with regard to no. 20,
but if so, it forms part or another version of the Marduk-Tiamat episode. No. 19,
treating of the bow of Marduk (?), does not seem to belong to our series.
2 A standing phrase for " favor " in general.
3 To prayer. 4 The gods or the Igigi.
5 See p. 486 and Gunkel's note, Schopfung und Chaos, p. 26.
THE COSMOLOGY OF THE BABYLONIANS. 439
Among other names assigned to him are ' the one who knows
the heart of the gods,' ' who gathers the gods together,' ' who
rules in truth and justice.' In allusion again to his contest
with Tiamat, he is called * the destroyer of the enemy and of all
wicked ones,' 'who frustrates their plans.'
With the help of a pun upon his having * pierced ' Tiamat, he
is called Nibir, />., the planet Jupiter.1
Nibir be his name, who took hold of the life of Tiamat.
The course of the stars of heaven may he direct.
May he pasture all of the gods like sheep.2
But the climax is reached when, upon hearing what the Igigi
have done, the great gods, father Bel and father Ea cheerfully
bestow their own names upon Marduk.
Because he created the heavens and formed the earth
' Lord of Lands ' 3 father Bel called his name.
When he heard of all the names that the Igigi bestowed
Ea's liver rejoiced
That they had bestowed exalted names upon his son.
" He as I — Ea be his name.
The control of my commands.be entrusted to him.
To him my orders shall be transmitted."
The historical background to this transference of the name
of Bel has been dwelt upon in a previous chapter.4 This
" Marduk hymn " is to justify the transference of the role of the
older Bel of Nippur to the younger god Marduk. Throughout
the tablet describing the contest of Marduk with Tiamat, Mar-
duk is called Bel,5 and while this name is used in the generic
sense of "lord," the transference of the name of Bel to Marduk
is evidently introduced to account for his assuming the prerog-
1 See above, p. 434. The play is between Nibir (as though from the stem eberu)
and itcbbiru (" he pierced "), a form of eberu, and meaning ' to pass through.'
2 This metaphor is carried over into astronomical science. The planets are
known as "wandering sheep." See p. 459. 3 Bel matate. 4 See p. 118.
5 Similarly in another version of the contest published by Delitzsch, Assyr. \\ 'ar-lVimrod, p.i8) that the fight with the lion belongs to
the first tablet, where mention is made of a wild animal of some kind, is not acceptable.
THE GILGAMESH EPIC. 489
And whose breast1 reaches to Aralu;2
Scorpion-men guard its gate,
Of terror-inspiring aspect, whose appearance is deadly,
Of awful splendor, shattering mountains.
At sunrise and sunset they keep guard over the sun.
It will be recalled that the earth is pictured by the Babylo-
nians as a mountain. The description of Mashu is dependent
upon this conception. The mountain seems to be coextensive
with the earth. The dam of heaven is the point near which
the sun rises, and if the scorpion-men guard the sun at sunrise
and sunset, the mountain must extend across to the gate through
which the sun passes at night to dip into the great Apsu?
Aralu is situated under the earth, and Mashu, reaching down
to Aralu, must be again coextensive with the earth in this
direction. The description of Mashu accordingly is a reflex of
the cosmological conceptions developed in Babylonia. The
scorpion-men pictured on seal cylinders4 belong to the mythical
monsters, half-man, half-beast, with which the world was peo-
pled at the beginning of things. However, there is also an
historical background to the description. The name Mashu
appears in texts as the Arabian desert to the west and south-
west of the Euphrates Valley.5 It is called a land of dryness,
where neither birds nor gazelles nor wild asses are found. Even
the bold Assyrian armies hesitated before passing through this
region. In the light of the early relationships between Baby-
lonia and Arabia,6 this reference to Mashu may embody a tradi-
tion of some expedition to Southern Arabia.7 Beyond Mashu
1 /.£., inner side.
2 The name of the cave underneath the earth where the dead dwell.
3 See above, p. 443.
4 See, e.g., Jeremias' Izdubar-Nimrod, p. 28. *
5 See the passages in Delitzsch, Wo Lag das Paradies, pp. 242, 243.
c See above, p. 39, and Hommel's full discussion, Altisraelitische Uebcrlicfernng,
chapter iii.
7 Hommel (Altisraelitische Ueberlieferung, pp. 35, 37) suggests a migration of
Cassites from Elam to Eastern Africa.
490 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
lay a great sea, — perhaps the Arabian Sea, — which Gilgamesh
is obliged to cross ere he reaches his goal.
Gilgamesh is terrified at the sight of these scorpion-men
but the latter have received notice of his coming and permit
him to pass through the gate.
A scorpion-man addresses his wife :
" He who comes to us is of divine appearance."
The wife of the scorpion-man agrees that Gilgamesh is in
part divine, but she adds that in part he is human. In further
conversation, the scorpion-man announces that it is by express
command of the gods that Gilgamesh has come to the mountain.
Gilgamesh approaches and tells the scorpion-man of his purpose.
The hero, recovering his courage, is not held back by the de-
scription that the scorpion-man gives him of the dangers that
beset the one who ventures to enter the dreadful district. The
gate is opened and the journey begins.
He gropes his way for one double hour,
With dense darkness enclosing him on all sides.
He gropes his \vay for twro double hours,
With dense darkness enclosing him on all sides.
After traversing a distance of .twenty-four hours' march, Gil-
gamesh beholds a tree of splendid appearance, decorated with
precious stones and bearing beautiful fruit. Finally he reaches
the sea, where the maiden Sabitum has her palace and throne.
Upon seeing the hero, the maiden locks the gates of her palace
and will not permit Gilgamesh to pass across the sea. Gilga-
mesh pleads with Sabitum, tells of the loss of his friend Eabani,
'who has become dust,'1 and whose fate he does not wish to
share.
Gilgamesh speaks to Sabitum :
" [Now] Sabitum, which is the way to Parnapishtim ?
If it is possible, let me cross the ocean.
If it is not possible, let me stretch myself on the ground." 2
1 Haupt, pp. 12, 67. 2 Attitude of despair.
THE GILGAMESH EPIC. 491
Sabitum speaks to Gilgamesh :
" O Gilgamesh ! there has never been a ferry,
And no one has ever crossed the ocean.
Shamash, the hero, has crossed it, but except Shamash, who can cross it ?
Difficult is the passage, very difficult the path.
Impassible (?) the waters of death that are guarded by a bolt.
How canst thou, O Gilgamesh, traverse the ocean ?
And after thou hast crossed the waters of death, what wilt thou do ? "
Sabitum then tells Gilgamesh that there is one possibility of
his accomplishing his task. If Ardi-Ea,1 the ferryman 2 of
Parnapishtim, will take Gilgamesh across, well and good ; if
not, he must abandon all hope.
The ocean, though not expressly called Apsu, is evidently
identical with the great body of waters supposed to both sur-
round the earth and to flow beneath it.3 The reference to 'the
waters of death ' thus becomes clear. The gathering-place of
the dead being under the earth, near to the Apsu, the great
' Okeanos ' forms a means of approach to the nether world. It
is into this ocean, forming part of the Apsu, that the sun dips
at evening and through which it passes during the night. The
scene between Gilgamesh and Sabitum accordingly is suggested,
in part, by the same cosmological conceptions that condition
the description of the mountain Mashu.
Sabitum herself is a figure that still awaits satisfactory ex-
planation. She is called the goddess Siduri.4 The name of
this goddess is found as an element in proper names, but of
her traits we know nothing. Sabitum appears originally to
have been a term descriptive of her, and Hommel5 may be
right in explaining the name as f the one from Sabu,' 6 and in
taking the latter as the name of a district in Arabia. It is
tempting to think of the famous Saba in Southern Arabia.
1 />., ' servant of Ea.' The reading Ardi-Ea is preferable to Arad-Ea.
2 Lit., ' sailor.' 3 See above, p. 443.
4 Haupt, pp. 64, 36 ; 65, i 5 Altisraelitische Ueberlieferung, p. 35.
6 Turn is the feminine ending.
492 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
Obedient to the advice of Sabitum, Gilgamesh tells Ardi-Ea
his story and also his desire.
Now Ardi-Ea, which is the way to [Parnapishtim ?].
If it is possible, let me cross the ocean,
And if not possible, let me lie outstretched on the ground.
Ardi-Ea consents, and tells Gilgamesh to take his ax, to go
into the woods, and to cut down a large pole that may serve as
a rudder.
Gilgamesh, upon hearing this,
Takes an ax in his hand, . . .
Goes to the wood and makes a rudder five^ar1 long.
Gilgamesh and Ardi-Ea mount the ship.
The ship tosses from side to side.
After a course of one month and fifteen days, on the third day2
Ardi-Ea reaches the waters of death.
This appears to be the most dangerous part of the voyage.
Ardi-Ea urges Gilgamesh to cling to the rudder, and counts the
strokes he is to take.3 The waters are not extensive, for only
twelve strokes are enumerated; but the current is so strong that
it is with the utmost difficulty that Gilgamesh succeeds in pass-
ing through them. At last, Gilgamesh is face to face with
Parnapishtim. The latter is astonished to see a living person
come across the waters. Gilgamesh addresses Parnapishtim
from the ship, recounts his deeds, among which we distinguish4
the killing of a panther, of Alia, of the divine bull, and of Khum-
baba. The death of Eabani is also dwelt upon, and then
Gilgamesh pleads with Parnapishtim, tells him of the long,
difficult way that he has traveled, and of all that he has encoun-
tered on the road.
Difficult lands I passed through,
All seas I crossed.
1 A large measure.
2 Of the week? Hommel and others interpret that Gilgamesh accomplishes the
'forty-five days' journey' in three days.
3 This I take to be the meaning of the numbers introduced at this point.
4 The text is badly mutilated.
THE GJLGAMESU EPIC. 493
Parnapishtim expresses his sympathy:
Gilgamesh has filled his heart with woe,
But neither gods nor men [can help him (?)].
Parnapishtim thereupon addresses Gilgamesh, showing him
how impossible it is for any mortal to escape death. The
inexorable law will prevail as long as * houses continue to be
built/ as long as 'friendships ' and 'hostilities ' prevail, as long
'as the waters fill (?) the sea.' The Anunnaki, the great gods,
and the goddess Mammitum, the creators of everything
Determine death and life.
No one knows the days of death.1
At this point Gilgamesh propounds a most natural question:
How comes it, if what Parnapishtim says is true, that the latter
is alive, while possessing all the traits of a human being? The
eleventh tablet of the epic begins :
Gilgamesh speaks to him, to Parnapishtim, the far-removed :
" I gaze at thee in amazement, Parnapishtim.
Thy appearance is normal. As I am, so art thou.
Thy entire nature 2 is normal. As I am, so art thou.
Thou art completely equipped for the fray.3
Armor4 (?) thou hast placed upon thee.
Tell me how thou didst come to obtain eternal life among the gods."
In reply, Parnapishtim tells the story of his escape from the
common fate of mankind. The story is a long one and has no
connection with the career of Gilgamesh. It embodies a recol-
lection of a rain-storm that once visited a city, causing a general
destruction, but from which Parnapishtim and his family mirac-
ulously escaped. The main purport of the tale is not to em-
phasize this miracle, but the far greater one that, after having
been saved from the catastrophe, Parnapishtim should also have
been granted immortal life. The moral, however, is that the ex-
1 There is no limit to the rule of death. Death alone is ' immortal.'
2 As Haupt correctly interprets.
3 This appears to be the sense of this rather obscure line.
4 Read [sir-ia]-am ?
494 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION^
ception proves the rule. With this tradition of the destruction
of a certain place, there has been combined a nature myth sym-
bolizing the annual overflow of the Euphrates, and the temporary
disappearance of all land that this inundation brought about,
prior to the elaborate canal system that was developed in the
valley. It is the same myth that we have come across in the
creation epic and which, as we have seen, was instrumental in
moulding the advanced cosmological conceptions of the Baby-
lonians.
In Parnapishtim's tale, the myth is given a more popular
form. There is no attempt made to impart a scholastic inter-
pretation to it. In keeping with what we have seen to be the
general character of the Gilgamesh epic, the episode introduced
at this point embodies popular traditions and, on the whole,
popular conceptions. The spirit of the whole epic is the same
that we find in the Thousand and One Nights or in the Arabian
romance of Antar.
The oriental love of story-telling has produced the Gilgamesh
epic and, like a true story, it grows in length, the oftener it is told.
Gilgamesh is merely a peg upon which various current tradi-
tions and myths are hung. Hence the combination of Gilga-
mesh's adventures with those of Eabani, and hence also the
association of Gilgamesh with Parnapishtim. A trace, perhaps,
of scholastic influence may be seen in the purport of Parna-
pishtim's narrative to prove the hopelessness of man's securing
immortality ; and yet, while the theology of the schools may
thus have had some share in giving to the tale of Parnapish-
tim its present shape, the problem presented by Gilgamesh's
adventures is a popular rather than a scholastic one. Even to
the primitive mind, for whom life rather than death constitutes
the great mystery to be solved, the question would suggest itself
whether death is an absolutely necessary phase through which
man must pass. The sun, moon, and stars do not die, the
streams have perpetual life ; and since all manifestations of life
THE GILGAMEXIl EPIC. 495
•
were looked at from one point of view, why should not man also
remain alive ? Beyond some touches in the narrative, we may,
therefore, regard Parnapishtim's story, together with the 'les-
son ' it teaches, as an interesting trace of the early theology as
it took shape in the popular mind. What adds interest to the
story that Parnapishtim tells, is its close resemblance to the
Biblical story of the Deluge. It also recalls the destruction
of Sodom, and we shall have occasion1 to show the significance
of these points of contact. Bearing in mind the independent
character of the Parnapishtim episode, and the motives that
led to its being incorporated in the adventures of Gilgamesh,
we may proceed with our analysis of this interesting eleventh
tablet. Thanks to the labors of Haupt, the numerous fragments
of it representing several copies, have been pieced together so
as to form an almost complete text.2 In reply to Gilgamesh's
queries,
Parnapishtim spoke to Gilgamesh:
" I will tell thee, Gilgamesh, the marvellous story,
And the decision of the gods I will tell thee.
The city Shurippak, a city which, as thou knowest,
Lies on the Euphrates,
That city was corrupt,3 so that the gods thereof,
Decided to bring a rainstorm upon it.
All of the great gods, Anu, their father,
Their counsellor, the warrior Bel,
The bearer of destruction Ninib,
Their leader En-nugi,
The lord of unsearchable wisdom, Ea, was with them,
To proclaim their resolve to the reed-huts.
Reed-hut, reed-hut, clay structure, clay structure,
Reed-hut, hear ! Clay structure, give ear ! "
The ordinary houses of Babylonia were constructed of reeds,
1 See below, p. 507.
2 The restored text in Haupt's edition of the Nimrodepos, pp. 134-149.
3 So Zimmern ingeniously suggests la bir, " not pure," instead of the rendering
old ' as hitherto proposed.
496 , BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
while the temples and palaces were built of hard-baked clay.
" Reed-hut " and " clay structure," thus embracing the archi-
tecture of the country, are poetically used to designate the
inhabitants of Shurippak. The address to the huts and struc-
tures has been appropriately compared by Professor Haupt to
the opening words of Isaiah's prophecies.1
Hear, Heavens ! and give ear, Earth !
Ea's words are intended as a warning to the people of Shu-
rippak. The warning comes appropriately from Ea as the god
of humanity, who according to some traditions is also the crea-
tor of mankind, and who is the teacher and protector of man-
kind. Opposed to Ea is Bel, the old Bel of Nippur, who is rep-
resented as favoring the destruction of humanity. The story
in this way reflects a rivalry between the Ea and Bel cults.
Of Shurippak, against which the anger of the gods is en-
kindled, we unfortunately know nothing,2 but it is fair to assume
that there was an ancient city of that name, and which was de-
stroyed by an overflow of the Euphrates during the rainy season.
The city need not necessarily have been one of much importance.
Its sad fate would naturally have impressed itself upon the
memory of the people, and given rise to legends precisely as the
disappearance of Sodom 3 or of the destruction of the tribes of
Ad and Thamud gave rise to fantastic stories among Hebrews
and Arabs respectively.4.
Ea, not content with the general warning, sends a special
message to Parnapishtim, one of the inhabitants of Shurippak.
O man of Shurippak, son of Kidin-Marduk ! 5
Erect a structure,6 build a ship,
1 Isaiah i. i.
2 See Jensen's remarks, Kosmologie, p. 387. There is no reference to Shurippak
in IIR. 46, i, as Haupt has shown (see his note in the 3d edition of Schrader's Keil-
inschriften und das Alte Testament}. 3 Gen. xix.
4 Hughes, Dictionary of Islam, sub " Ad" and " Salih/'
5 See above, p. 488, note 2.
6 Lit., ' construct a house ' ; house is used for any kind of structure in general.
THE GILGAMESH EPIC. 497
Abandon your goods, look after the souls,1
Throw aside your possessions, and save your life,
Load the ship with all kinds of living things.
The god then tells Parnapishtim in what manner to build
the ship. Its dimensions should be carefully measured. Its
breadth and depth should .be equal, and when it is finished,
Parnapishtim is to float it. The warning from Ea comes to
him in a dream, as we learn from a subsequent part of the
story. Parnapishtim does not deem it necessary to dwell upon
this, for it is only through dreams that the gods communicate
with kings and heroes.
Parnapishtim declares his readiness to obey the orders of
Ea, but like Moses upon receiving the command of Yahwe, he
asks what he should say when people question him.
What shall I answer the city, the people, and the elders?
Ea replies :
Thus answer and speak to them :
Bel has cast me out in his hatred,
So that I can no longer dwell in your city.
On Bel's territory I dare no longer show my face;
Therefore, I go to the ' deep ' to dwell with Ea my lord.
Bel's domain is the earth, while Ea controls the watery ele-
ments. Bel's hostility to mankind is limited to the inhabitants
of the dry land. The moment that Parnapishtim enters Ea's
domain he is safe. The answer thus not only furnishes the
real motive for the building of the ship, but further illustrates
the purport of the narrative in its present form. It is a glorifi-
cation of Ea at the expense of Bel, and it is not difficult to
detect the thought underlying the story that the evils afflicting
mankind on earth are due to the hostility of the 'chief demon, ''J
who becomes the controller of the earth and of the atmosphere
1 7>., let your property go and save your family.
2 See above, p. 53.
498 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
immediately above the earth. Ea's answer is not intended to
be equivocal, for he further orders Parnapishtim to announce
to his fellow-citizens the coming destruction.
Over you a rainstorm will come,
Men, birds, and beasts will perish.
The following line l is defective, but it appears to except
from the general destruction the fish as the inhabitants of the
domain controlled by Ea. The time when the catastrophe is
to take place is vaguely indicated.
When Shamash will bring on the time, then the lord of the whirlstorm
Will cause destruction to rain upon you in the evening.
The ' lord of the whirlstorm ' is Ramman, and the reference
to this deity specifies the manner in which the catastrophe will
be brought about. As in the Biblical story, * the windows of
heaven are to be opened,' the rains will come down, driven by
the winds that are to be let loose. It has been supposed that
because the ship of Parnapishtim drifts to the north that the
storm came from the south.2 No stress, however, is laid upon
the question of direction in the Babylonian narrative. The
phenomenon of a whirlstorm with rain is of ordinary occurrence ;
its violence alone makes it an exceptional event, but — be it
noted — not a miraculous one. Nor are we justified in attrib-
uting the deluge to the rush of waters from the Persian Gulf,
for this sheet of water is particularly sacred to Ea as the begin-
ning of the "great deep." It would be an insult to Ea's dignity
to suppose that he is unable to govern his own territory. The
catastrophe comes from above, from Ramman and his associates
who act at the instigation of the belligerent Bel.
Parnapishtim begins at once to build the ship. He gathers
his material, and on the fifth day is ready to construct the hull.
The ship resembles the ordinary craft still used on the Eu-
11x45-
2 Jensen, Kosmologie, p. 368 ; Jeremias, Izdubar-Nimrod, p. 37.
THE GILGAMI-.Sll EPIC. 499
phrates. It is a flat-Bottomed skiff with upturned edges. On
this shell the real ' house ' * of Parnapishtim is placed. The
structure is accurately described. Its height is one hundred
and twenty cubits, and its breadth is the same, in accordance
with the express orders given by Ea. No less than six floors
are erected, one above the other.
Then I built six stories,2
So that the whole consisted of seven apartments.
The interior 3 I divided into nine parts.
The structure may properly be called a ' house boat,' and its
elaborate character appears from the fact that it contains no less
than sixty-three compartments. Parnapishtim carefully pro-
vides plugs to fill out all crevices, and furthermore smears a
large quantity of bitumen without and within.
I provided a pole,4 and all that was necessary,
Six sar 5 of bitumen 6 I smeared on the outside,7
Three sar of pitch [I smeared] on the inside.
He also has a large quantity of oil placed on the boat, oxen,
jars filled with mead8 oil, and wine for a festival, which he insti-
tutes at the completion of the structure. The preparations are
on a large scale, as for the great New Year's Day celebrated in
Babylonia. The ship is launched, and, if Professor Haupt is
correct in his interpretation, the ship took water to the extent
of two-thirds of its height.
The side of the ship dipped two-thirds into water.
1 See above, p. 496, note 6.
2 Or decks (so Haupt).
3 Of each story or deck.
4 Poles are used to this day to propel the crafts on the Euphrates.
5 The largest measure.
6 The same word (knpni) is used as in Gen. vi. 14.
7 Some part of the outside of the structure is designated.
8 Haupt translates " Sesammeth."
500 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
Parnapishtim now proceeds to take his family and chattels
on board.
All that I had, I loaded on the ship.
With all the silver that I had, I loaded it,
With all the gold that I had, I loaded it,
With living creatures of all kinds I loaded it.
I brought on board my whole family and household,
Cattle of the field, beasts of the field, workmen, — all this I took on board.
Parnapishtim is ready to enter the ship, but he waits until
the time fixed for the storm arrives.
When the time came
For the lord of the wrhirlstorm to rain down destruction,
I gazed at the earth,
I was terrified at its sight,
I entered the ship, and closed the door.
To the captain of the ship, to Puzur-Shadurabu,1 the sailor,
I entrusted the structure 2 with all its contents.
The description of the storm follows, in diction at once
impressive and forcible.
Upon the first appearance of dawn,
There arose from the horizon dark clouds,
Within which Ramman caused his thunder to resound.
Nabu and Sharru3 marched at the front,
The destroyers passed across mountains and land,
Dibbarra * lets loose the . . . .5
Ninib advances in furious hostility.
The Anunnaki raise torches,
Whose sheen illumines the universe,
As Ramman's whirlwind sweeps the heavens,
And all light is changed to darkness.
1 " Puzur " signifies ' hidden,' ' protected.' " Shadu rabu," i.e., ' great mountain,' is
a title of Bel and of other gods (see above, pp. 56 and 278). Here, probably,
Shamash is meant. 2 Lit., ' great house ' or ' palace.'
3 />., ' king,' frequently found as a title of Marduk in astronomical texts (Jensen,
Kosmologie, p. 145).
4 The god of war and pestilence.
5 " Tar-gul-le," some mischievous forces.
THE GILGAMESH EPIC. 501
The destructive elements, thunder, lightning, storm, rain,
are thus let loose. The dreadful storm lasts for seven days.
The terror of men and gods is splendidly portrayed.
Brother does not look after brother,
Men care not for another. In the heavens,
Even the gods are terrified at the storm.
They take refuge in the heaven of Anu.1
The gods cowered like dogs at the edge of the heavens.
With this description the climax in the narrative is reached.
The reaction begins. Ishtar is the first to bewail the destruc-
tion that has been brought about, and her example is followed
by others of the gods.
Ishtar groans like a woman in throes,
The lofty goddess cries with loud voice,
The world of old has become a mass of clay.2
Ishtar appears here in the role of the mother of mankind.
She feels that she has none but herself to blame for the catas-
trophe, for, as one of the great gods, she must have been pres-
ent at the council when the storm was decided on, and must
have countenanced it. She therefore reproaches herself :
That I should have assented 3 to this evil among the gods !
That when I assented to this evil,
I was for the destruction of my own creatures ! 4
What I created, where is it ?
Like so many fish, it 5 fills the sea.
From the words of Ishtar it would appear that the storm had
assumed larger dimensions than the gods, or at least than
some of them, had anticipated. At the beginning of the episode,
Shurippak alone is mentioned, and Ishtar apparently wishes to
say that when she agreed to the bringing on of the storm, she
1 The highest part of heaven. * Lit., ' my mankind.'
2 f.e., has been destroyed. 5 I.e., Mankind.
8 Lit., ' spoken ' or ' ordered.'
502 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
was not aware that she was decreeing the destruction of all
mankind. It is evident that two distinct traditions have been
welded together in the present form of the Babylonian docu-
ment, one recalling the destruction of a single city, the other
embodying in mythological form the destructive rains of Baby-
lonia that were wont to annually flood the entire country before
the canal system was perfected.
Some particularly destructive season may have formed an
additional factor in the combination of the traditions. At all
events, the storm appears to have got beyond the control of the
gods, and none but Bel approves of the widespread havoc that
has been wrought. It is no unusual phenomenon in ancient
religions to find the gods powerless to control occurrences that
they themselves produced. The Anunnaki — even more directly
implicated than Ishtar in bringing on the catastrophe — join the
goddess in her lament at the complete destruction wrought.
The gods, together with the Anunnaki, wept with her.
The gods, in their depression, sat down to weep,
Pressed their lips together, were overwhelmed with grief (?).
The storm could no longer be quieted.
For six days and nights
Wind, rain-storm, hurricane swept along ;
When the seventh day arrived, the storm began to moderate,
Which had waged a contest like a great host.
The sea quieted down, wind and rain-storm ceased.
Parnapishtim then gazes at the destruction.
Bitterly weeping I looked at the sea,
For all mankind had been turned to clay.1
In place of dams, everything had become a marsh.
I opened a hole so as to let the light fall upon my face,
And dumbfounded, I sat down and wept.
Tears flowed down my face.
I looked in all directions, — naught but sea.
1 From which they were made. See pp. 448 and 511.
7Y77i GILGAMESH EPIC. 503
But soon the waters began to diminish.
After twelve double hours 1 an island appeared,
The ship approached the mountain Nisir.
The name given to the first promontory to appear is signifi-
cant. Nisir signifies 'protection' or 'salvation.' The house-
boat clings to this spot.
At this mountain, the mountain Nisir, the boat stuck fast.
For six days the boat remains in the same position. At the
beginning of the seventh day, Parnapishtim endeavors to ascer-
tain whether the waters have abated sufficiently to permit him
to leave the boat.
When the seventh day approached
I sent forth a dove.
The dove flew about
But, finding no resting place, returned;
Then I sent forth a swallow.
The swallow flew about
But, finding no resting place, returned;
Then I sent forth a raven.
The raven flew off, and, seeing that the waters had decreased,
Cautiously 2 (?) waded in the mud, but did not return.
Parnapishtim is satisfied, leaves the ship, and brings a sac-
rifice to the gods on the top of the mountain. In seven large
bowls he places calamus, cedarwood, and incense.
The gods inhaled the odor,
The gods inhaled the sweet odor,
The gods gathered like flies around the sacrificer.
A solemn scene ensues. Ishtar, the ' mistress of the gods,'
swears by the necklace given to her by her father, Anu, that
she will never forget these days.
1 See p. 482, note 4.
2 Haupt and Delitzsch render ikkal, ' ate,' as though from aMht, but this is hardly
in place. I take the stem of the word to be nakaln.
504 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
Let the gods come to the sacrifice,1
But Bel must not come to the sacrifice ;
Since, without consultation,'2 he caused the rain-storm,
And handed over my creation 3 to destruction.
Bel thus appears to be the one who alone knew of the extent
which the destruction was destined to reach. The annihilation
of all mankind was his work, undertaken without consulting his
associates. The latter were aware only of the intended destruc-
tion of a single place, — Shurippak.
At this moment Bel approaches. He does not deny his deed,
but is enraged that the planned destruction should not have been
complete, since Parnapishtim and his household have escaped.
As Bel approached
And saw the ship, he was enraged,
Filled with anger against the gods — the Igigi.
' What person has escaped (?) ?
No one was to survive the destruction.'
Ninib reveals the fact of Ea's interference:
Ninib opened his mouth and spoke, spoke to the belligerent Bel :
" Who but Ea could have done this ?
For is it not Ea who knows all arts ? "
Ea appeals to Bel:
Ea opened his mouth and spoke, spoke to the belligerent Bel :
" Thou art the belligerent leader of the gods,
But why didst thou, without consultation, bring on the rainstorm ?
Punish the sinner for his sins,
Punish the evil-doer for his evil deeds,
But be merciful so as not to root out completely,
Be considerate not to destroy everything."
The terrors inspired by the deluge are well portrayed in the
continuation of Ea's speech. He tells Bel that he should have
brought on anything but a deluge.
1 To have a share in it.
2 Jensen and Haupt translate " inconsiderately," but this rendering misses the
point. 3 Lit., ' my humanity.'
THE GILGAMESH EPIC. 505
•
Instead of bringing on a deluge,
Let lions come and diminish mankind.1
Instead of bringing on a deluge,
Let tigers come and diminish mankind.
Instead of bringing on a deluge,
Let famine come and smite the land.
Instead of bringing on a deluge,
Let pestilence 2 come and waste the land.
Ea then confesses that through his instigation Parnapishtim
was saved.
While I did not reveal the decision of the great gods,
I sent Adra-Khasis 8 a dream which told him of the decision of the gods.
It is a misconception to regard this answer of the god as
equivocal. Ea means to say that he did not interfere with the
divine decree. He simply told Parnapishtim to build a ship,
leaving to the latter to divine the reason. Ea, it is true, tells
Parnapishtim of Bel's hatred, but he does not reveal the secret
of the gods. After Ea's effective speech Bel is reconciled, and
the scene closes dramatically, as follows :
Bel came to his senses,
Stepped on board of the ship,
Took me by the hand and lifted me up,
Brought up my wife, and caused her to kneel at my side,
Turned towards us, stepped between us, and blessed us.
' Hitherto Parnapishtim was human,4
But now Parnapishtim and his wife shall be gods like us.5
Parnapishtim shall dwrell in the distance, at the confluence of the streams.'
Then they took me and placed me in the distance, at the confluence of the
streams.
1 Not destroy it altogether. 2 Lit., ' the god Dibbarra.'
3 I.e., the ' very clever ' or ' very pious,' an epithet given to Parnapishtim. The
inverted form, Khasis-adra, was distorted into Xisusthros, which appears in the
writers dependent upon Berosus as the name of the hero of the Babylonian deluge.
See, e.g., Cory's Ancient Fragments, pp. 52, 54, 60, etc. The epithet appears also
in the Legend of Etana (pp. 523, 524), where it is applied to a ' wise ' young eagle.
4 Ije., mortal. 5 /^., immortal. Cf. Gen. iii. 22.
506 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
•
The streams are, according to Haupt,1 the four rivers —
Euphrates, Tigris, Karun, and Kercha, which at one time
emptied their waters independently into the Persian Gulf.
Parnapishtim's dwelling-place is identical with the traditional
Paradise of the Babylonians and Hebrews.
It will be proper before leaving the subject, to dwell briefly
upon the points of contact between this Babylonian tale and
the Biblical narrative of the Deluge. The source of the tradi-
tion must be sought in the Euphrates Valley. The ark of
Noah can only be understood in the light of methods of navi-
gation prevailing in Babylonia ; and it is in Babylonia, and not
Palestine, that the phenomenon was annually seen of large por-
tions of land disappearing from view.
The Babylonian tale is to be differentiated, as already sug-
gested, into two parts, — the destruction of Shurippak and the
annual phenomenon of the overflow of the Euphrates. The
combination of these two elements results in the impression
conveyed by Parnapishtim's narrative that the rain-storm took
on larger dimensions than was originally anticipated by the
gods. The Biblical narrative is based upon this combination,
but discarding those portions of the tale which are of purely
local interest makes the story of a deluge, a medium for illus-
trating the favor shown by Yahwe towards the righteous man,
as represented by Noah. The Biblical narrative ends, as does
the Babylonian counterpart, with the assurance that a deluge
will not sweep over the earth again ; but viewed from a mono-
theistic aspect, this promise is interpreted as signifying the
establishment of eternal laws; — a thought that is wholly foreign
to the purpose of the Babylonian narrative.
The slight variations between the Biblical and Babylonian
narratives, and upon which it is needless to dwell, justify the
conclusion that the Hebrew story is not directly borrowed from
1 Wo Lag das Parodies (Ueber Land Ttnd Meer, 1894-95, no. 15).
THE GILGAMESH EPIC. 507
the Babylonian version.1 The divergences are just of the char-
acter that will arise through the independent development and
the independent interpretation of a common tradition. The
destruction of Shurippak has a Biblical parallel in the destruc-
tion of Sodom 2 and of the surrounding district. Sodom, like
Shurippak, is a city full of wickedness. Lot and his household
are saved through direct intervention, just as Parnapishtiin and
his family escape through the intervention of Ea. Moreover,
there are traces in the Sodom narrative of a tradition which
once gave a larger character to it, involving the destruction of
all mankind,8 much as the destruction of Shurippak is enlarged
by Babylonian traditions into a general annihilation of mankind.
It is to be noted, too, that no emphasis is laid upon Lot's piety,
and in this respect, as in others, Parnapishtim bears more re-
semblance to Lot than to Noah.
The hostility between Bel and Ea, which we have seen plays
a part in the Babylonian narrative, belongs to the larger mytho-
logical element in the episode, not to the specific Shurippak
incident. Bel, as the god whose dominion includes the atmo-
sphere above the earth, controls the ' upper waters.' At his
1 The Hebrew account, it must be remembered, consists of two narratives dove-
tailed into one another. According to the one version — the Yahwistic — the rain-
storm continued for forty days and forty nights ; according to the other — the priestly
narrative — one hundred and fifty days pass before the waters began to diminish and
a year elapses before Noah leaves the ark. The Yahwistic narrative lays stress upon
the ritualistic distinction of clean and unclean animals, but on the whole, the Yahwistic
version approaches closer to the Babylonian tale. Evidence has now been furnished
that among the Babylonians, too, more than one version of the tradition existed.
At the Eleventh International Congress of Orientalists (September, 1897), Scheil
presented a tablet, dating from the days of Hammurabi, in which the story of a
deluge is narrated in a manner quite different from the Gilgamesh epic. The tablet
also furnishes the phonetic reading //-*>, and Scheil is of the opinion that these
two syllables form the first element in the name of the hero. Unfortunately, the
tablet is badly mutilated at this point, so that the question of the reading is not
absolutely certain. See p. 488, note 2.
2 Gen. xix.
3 Note the phrase in Gen. xix. 31, "there is no one on earth," and see Pietschman,
Gcschichte der Phonizicr, p. 115.
508 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
instigation these waters descend and bring destruction with
them. But Ea's dominion — the * deep ' and the streams —
are beneficent powers. The descent of the upper waters is in
the nature of an attack upon Ea's kingdom. It is through Ea
that the mischief produced by Bel is again made good. Such
a conception falls within the domain of popular mythology.
An ancient rivalry between Nippur, the seat of Bel and Eridu
(or some other seat of Ea worship), may also have entered
as a factor, if not in giving rise to the story, at least in main-
taining it. If this be so, the story would belong to a period
earlier than Hammurabi,1 since with the ascendancy of Babylon
and of Marduk, the general tendency of religious thought is
towards imbuing the gods with a kindly spirit towards one
another, joining issues, as in the creation epic, for the glorifica-
tion of Marduk. The absence of Marduk from the deluge story
is another indication of the antiquity of the tradition.
Coming back now to the epic, Parnapishtim, whose sym-
pathy has been aroused by the sight of Gilgamesh, makes an
attempt to heal the hero of his illness.
The life that thou seekest, thou wilt obtain. Now sleep !
Gilgamesh falls into a heavy stupor, and continues in this
state for six days and seven nights. An interesting dialogue
ensues between Parnapishtim and his wife.
Parnapishtim says to his wife :
" Look at the man whose desire is life.
Sleep has fallen upon him like a storm."
Says the wife to Parnapishtim :
" Transform him, let the man eat of the charm-root,2
Let him return, restored in health, on the road that he came.
Through the gate let him pass out, back to his country."
1 That the story was current as early as Hammurabi is now established by Scheil's
fragment (see note 2 on preceding page).
2 The word used is tu which means a charm or incantation in general.
THE GILGAMESII EPIC. 509
Parnapishtim says to his wife :
" The torture of the man pains thee.
Cook the food 1 for him and place it at his head."
It is interesting to note that the woman appears as the
exerciser of the disease. The wife of Parnapishtim — whose
name is not mentioned as little as is the wife of Noah or Lot —
proceeds to prepare the magic food. A plant of some kind is
taken and elaborately treated.
While he2 slept on board of his ship,
She cooked the food and placed it at his head.
While he 2 slept on board of his vessel,
Firstly, his food . . . ;
Secondly, it was pealed ;
Thirdly, moistened;
Fourthly, his bowl (?) was cleansed ;
Fifthly, Shiba 3 was added ;
Sixthly, it was cooked;
Seventhly, of a sudden the man was transformed and ate the magic food.4
Gilgamesh awakes and asks what has been done to him.
Parnapishtim tells him. But Gilgamesh is not completely
healed. His body is still covered with sores. The magic
potion must be followed by immersion into the fountain of life.
Parnapishtim instructs Ardi-Ea to convey Gilgamesh to this
fountain. He speaks to the ferryman.
The man whom thou hast brought is covered with sores.
The eruption on his skin has destroyed the beauty of his body.
Take him, O Ardi-Ea, to the place of purification,
To wash his sores in the water, that he may become white as snow.
Let the ocean carry off the eruption on his skin,
That his body may become pure.5
Let his turban be renewed and the garment that covers his nakedness.
Ardi-Ea carries out these instructions and Gilgamesh at last
is healed. The hero is now ready to return to his land. But
1 Made of the charm-root. * T&.
2 Gilgamesh. & Lit., ' good.'
3 /.£., ' old age,' the name given to some plant of magic power.
510 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
though returning in restored health, he is not proof against
death. Parnapishtim, at the suggestion of his wife, reveals the
' secret of life ' to Gilgamesh just before the latter's departure.
The ship is brought nearer to the shore, and Parnapishtim tells
Gilgamesh of a plant that wounds as a thistle, but which pos-
sesses wonderful power. Gilgamesh departs on the ship, and
with the help of Ardi-Ea finds this plant, which is called ' the
restoration of old age to youth.' It is a long journey to the
place. The plant grows at the side or at the bottom of a foun-
tain. Gilgamesh secures it, but scarcely have his hands grasped
the plant when it slips out of his hand and is snatched away
by a demon that takes on the form of a serpent. All is lost !
Gilgamesh sits down and weeps bitter tears. He pours out his
woe to Ardi-Ea, but there is nothing left except to return to
Uruk. He reaches the city in safety. His mission — the
search for immortality — has failed. Though healed from his
disease, the fate of mankind — old age and death — is in store
for him. With the return to Uruk the eleventh tablet ends. It
but remains, before passing on, to note that the narrative of the
deluge in this tablet is connected with the character of the
eleventh month, which is called the * month of rain.' We may
conclude from this that the mythological element in the story —
the annual overflow — predominates the local incident of the
destruction of Shurippak. Gilgamesh, we must bear in mind,
has nothing to do with either the local tale or the myth, except
to give to both an interpretation that was originally foreign to
the composite narrative.
In the twelfth tablet — which is in large part obscure — we
find Gilgamesh wandering from one temple to the other, from
the temple of Bel to that of Ea, lamenting for Eabani, and ask-
ing, again and again, what has become of his companion. What
has been his fate since he was taken away from the land of the
living ? The hero, now convinced, as it seems, that death will
come to him, and reconciled in a measure to his fate, seeks to
THE GILGAMESH EPIC. 511
learn another secret, — the secret of existence after death. He
appeals to the gods of the nether world to grant him at least a
sight of Eabani. Nergal, the chief of this pantheon, consents.
... he opened the earth,
And the spirit 1 of Eabani
He caused to rise up like a wind.
Gilgamesh puts his question to Eabani:
Tell me, my companion, tell me, my companion,
The nature of the land which thou hast experienced, oh ! tell me.
Eabani replies :
I cannot tell thee, my friend, I cannot tell thee !
He seems to feel that Gilgamesh could not endure the
description. The life after death, as will be shown in a
subsequent chapter, is not pictured by the Babylonians as
joyous. Eabani reveals glimpses of the sad conditions that
prevail there. It is the domain of the terrible Allatu, and Etana 2
is named among those who dwell in this region. Eabani
bewails his fate.3 He curses Ukhat, whom, together with
Sadu, he holds responsible for having brought death upon him.
In Genesis, it will be recalled, death likewise is viewed as the
consequence of Adam's yielding to the allurements of Eve.
Special significance, too, attaches to the further parallel to be
drawn between Adam's punishment and Eabani's fate.
Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return
applies to Eabani as well as to Adam. He was formed of clay, as
we have seen,4 and when he dies he is ' turned to clay.' 5 Still
the fortunes awaiting those who die are not alike. Those who
1 Utukku — the name, it will be recalled, given to a class of demons. See p. 260.
2 See p. 518.
3 Haupt, Beitr'dge zur Assyriologie, i. 318, 319, has made it plausible that pp. 16-
19 of his edition belong to the twelfth tablet of the epic, though perhaps to a differ-
ent edition of the epic, as Jeremias suggests (Izdubar-Nimrod, p. 43).
4 See above, p. 474. 5 Haupt's edition, pp. 67, 12.
512 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
die in battle seem to enjoy special privileges, provided, however,
they are properly buried and there is some one to make them
comfortable in their last hour and to look after them when dead.
Such persons are happy in comparison with the fate in store for
those who are neglected by the living. The one who is properly
cared for, who
On a soft couch rests,
Drinking pure water,
Who dies in battle, as you and I have seen,1 *
His father and mother supporting his head,
His wife 2 ... at his side, —
the spirit of such a one is at rest. The circumstances attending
death presage in a measure the individual's life after death.
But he whose corpse remains in the field,
As you and I have seen,
His spirit 3 has no rest in the earth.
The one whose spirit is not cared for by any one,
As you and I have seen,
He is consumed by gnawing hunger, by a longing for food.
What is left on the street he is obliged to eat.4
To be left unburied was the greatest misfortune that could
happen to a dead person.
With this sentiment the epic closes. Gilgamesh must rest
content with the unsatisfactory consolation that Eabani offers
him. Man must die, and Gilgamesh cannot escape the univer-
sal fate. Let him hope for and, if possible, provide for proper
burial when death does overtake him. He will then, at least,
not suffer the pangs of hunger in the world of spirits to which
he must go.
The twelfth tablet exhibits somewhat more traces of the
1 Lit., ' thou hast seen _it, I have seen it.'
2 Text defective. Jeremias conjectures " kneeling."
3 Ekimmu, another name for a class of demons. See p. 260.
4 The correct translation of these lines we owe to Haupt (Beitrage znr Assyriolo-
^,1.69,70).
THE GILGAMESH EPIC. 513
theology of the schools than the others. Eabani's speech, while
conveying sentiments that thoroughly represent the popular
beliefs of Babylonia, is couched in terms that give to the ad-
dress the character of a formal declaration of doctrines. The
conjuring up of the spirit of Eabani is also a feature that appears
to be due to theological influences, and the whole episode of
Gilgamesh's wandering from place to place seeking for informa-
tion appears to be a ' doublet ' suggested by the hero's wander-
ings, as narrated in the ninth and tenth tablets.
The problem propounded in the earlier tablets — the search
for immortality — is, as has been shown, a perfectly natural one
and of popular origin, but the problem with which Gilgamesh
wrestles in the twelfth tablet, — the secret of the life after death,
— while suggested by the other, belongs rather to the domain
of theological and mystic speculation. This aspect of the
twelfth tablet is borne out also by the fact that the problem
is not solved. The epic ends as unsatisfactorily as the Book
of Job or Ecclesiastes. There is a tone of despair in the
final speech of Eabani, which savors of the schools of advanced
thought in Babylonia. For the problem of immortality, a defi-
nite solution at least is offered. Man can reach old age ; he
may be snatched for a time from the grasp of death, as Gilga-
mesh was through the efforts of Parnapishtim, but he only
deludes himself by indulging in hopes of immortal life. ' Man
must die ' is the refrain that rings in our ears. The plant of
' eternal youth ' slips out of one's hand at the very moment
that one believes to have secured it.
The Gilgamesh epic, as we have it, thus turns out to be a com-
posite production. Gilgamesh, a popular -hero of antiquity,
becomes a medium for the perpetuation of various popular
traditions and myths. The adventures of his career are com-
bined with the early history of man. Of actual deeds performed
by Gilgamesh, and which belong to Gilgamesh's career as a hero,
warrior, and ruler, we have only four, — the conquest of Erech,
514 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
his victory over Khumbaba. the killing of the divine bull, and
the strangling of the lion.1 The story of Eabani, Ukhat, and
Sadu is independent of Gilgamesh's career, and so also is the
story of his wanderings to Mashu and his encounter with Par-
napishtim. Gilgamesh is brought into association with Eabani
by what may be called, a natural process of assimilation. The
life of the hero is placed back at the beginning of things, and
in this way Gilgamesh is brought into direct contact with
legends of man's early fortunes, with ancient historical reminis-
cences, as well as with nature-myths that symbolize the change
of seasons and the annual inundations.
Popular philosophy also enters into the life of the hero.
Regarded as a god and yet of human origin, Gilgamesh becomes
an appropriate illustration for determining the line that marks
off man's career from the indefinite extension of activity that
is a trait of the gods. Gilgamesh revolts against the uni-
versal law of decay and is punished. He is relieved from
suffering, but cannot escape the doom of death. The sixth
tablet marks an important division in the epic. The Ishtar and
Sabitum episodes and the narrative of Parnapishtim — itself a
compound of two independent tales, one semi-historical, the
other a nature-myth — represent accretions that may refer to a
time when Gilgamesh had become little more than a name, — a
type of mankind in general. Finally, scholastic speculation
takes hold of Gilgamesh, and makes him the medium for illus-
trating another and more advanced problem that is of intense
interest to mankind, — the secret of death. Death is inevitable,
but what does death mean ? The problem is not solved. The
1 The reference to the killing of a panther in the tenth tablet (Haupt, p. 71, 6) is
too obscure to be taken into consideration. Gilgamesh's fight with a ' buffalo ' (so
Ward, " Babylonian Gods in Babylonian Art," Proc. Anter. Or. Soc., May, 1890,
p. xv) is pictured on seal cylinders. No doubt, various deeds of Gilgamesh were
recounted in the missing portions of the epic, and it is also quite likely that besides
the stories in the epic, others were current of Gilgamesh to which a literary form was
never given.
%THE GILGAMKSH KPIC. 515
close of the eleventh tablet suggests that Gilgamesh will die.
The twelfth tablet adds nothing to the situation — except a
moral. Proper burial is essential to the comparative well-being
of the dead.
The fact that Gilgamesh is viewed as a type in the latter half
of this remarkable specimen of Babylonian literature justifies us
in speaking of it, under proper qualification, as a ' national epic.'
But it must be remembered that Gilgamesh himself belongs to
a section of Babylonia only, and not to the whole of it ; and it
is rather curious that one, of whom it can be said with certainty
that he is not even a native of Babylonia, should become the
personage to whom popular fancy was pleased to attach tradi-
tions and myths that are distinctively Babylonian in character
and origin.
The story of Gilgamesh was carried beyond the confines of
Babylonia.1 Gilgamesh, to be sure, is not identical with the
Biblical Nimrod,2 but the Gilgamesh story has evidently influ-
enced the description given in the tenth chapter of Genesis of
Nimrod, who is viewed as the type of Babylonian power and
of the extension of Babylonian culture to the north.
The Gilgamesh epic is not a solar myth, as was once sup-
posed,3 nor is the Biblical story of Samson a pure myth, but
Gilgamesh becomes a solar deity, and it is hardly accidental that
Samson, or to give the Hebrew form of the name, Shimshon, is
a variant form of Shamash? — the name of the sun in Babylonian
and Hebrew. The Biblical Samson appears to be modelled
upon the character of Gilgamesh. Both are heroes, both con-
1 The Parnapishtim episode passed on to the Arabs, where the hero of the deluge
appears under the name of Khadir — a corruption of Adra-Khasis. See Lidzbarski,
" Wer 1st Chadir?" Zeits.f. Assyr. vii. 109-112, who also suggests that Ahasverus,
' the Wandering Jew,' is a corruption of Adrakhasis.
2 It will be recalled that Nimrod is termed a ' mighty hunter' (said). This sug-
gests a comparison with Sadu, ' the hunter,' in the Gilgamesh epic. See above, p. 475.
3 Originally suggested by H. C. Rawlinson.
4 The ending on is an emphatic affix — frequent in proper names.
516 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
querors, both strangle a lion, and both are wooed by a woman,
the one by Delila, the other by Ishtar, and both through a
woman are shorn of their strength. The historical traits are
of course different. As for the relationships of the Gilgamesh
epic to the Hercules story, the authority of Wilamowitz-
Mollendorf L is against an oriental origin of the Greek tale, and
yet such parallels as Hercules' fight with a lion, his conquest
of death, his journey and search for immortality (which in con-
trast to Gilgamesh he secures), certainly point to an influence
exercised by the oriental tale upon the Greek story. It is not
surprising that the elements contributed through this influence
have been so modified in the process of adaptation to the
purely Greek elements of the Hercules story, and, above all, to
the Greek spirit, as to obscure their eastern origin.2 Most
curious as illustrating the continued popularity of the Gilgamesh
story in the Orient is the incorporation of portions of the epic
in the career of Alexander the Great.3 In Greek, Syriac, and
Rabbinical writings, Alexander is depicted as wandering through
a region 4 of darkness and terror in search of the * water of life.'
He encounters strange beings, reaches the sea, but, like Gilga-
mesh, fails to secure immortality. Such were the profound
changes wrought by Alexander's conquests that popular fancy,
guided by a correct instinct of appreciation of his career, con-
verted the historical Alexander into a legendary hero of vast
dimensions.5 The process that produced the Gilgamesh epic is
1 Euripides' Herakles, Einleitung.
2 On this subject see the Introduction to Berardrs De Vorigine des ciiltes Arca-
diens, and for a further discussion of the relationships between Izdubar and
Hercules, see Jeremias' Izdubar-Nimrod, pp. 70-73, or his article in Roscher's
Ausfiihrliches Lexicon der GriecJiischen und Romischen Mythologie, ii. 821-823.
3 Meissner, Alexander und Gilgamos (Leipzig, 1894), pp. 13-17.
4 In the Greek and other versions, the mountain Musas or Masis is mentioned, —
that is, Mashu, as in the Gilgamesh epic. See p. 488.
6 See especially Budge, The Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great (London,
Introduction, 1896); Noldeke, Bcitrdgc zur Geschichte des Alexander-Rowans
(Vienna, 1890) and Gaster, An Old Hebrew Romance of Alexander (Journal Royal
Asia/. Soc., 1897, pp. 485-498).
THE GILGAMESH EPIC. 517
repeated, only on a larger scale, in the case of Alexander. Not
one country, but the entire ancient culture world, — Babylonia,
Persia, Egypt, Arabia, Judea, and Syria, — combine to form the
legendary Alexander. Each country contributes its share of
popular legends, myths, and traditions. Babylonia offers as her
tribute the exploits of Gilgamesh, which it transfers in part to
Alexander. The national hero becomes the type of the 'great
man,' and as with new conditions, a new favorite, representative
of the new era, arises to take the place of an older one, the old
is made to survive in the new. Gilgamesh lives again in Alex-
ander, just as traits of the legendary Alexander pass down to
subsequent heroes.
CHAPTER XXIV.
•
MYTHS AND LEGENDS.
NOT many years ago the impression appeared to be well
founded that the Semites were poor in the production of myths
an.d legends as compared, for example, to the Hindus or
Greeks. The religious literature of the Babylonians, originat-
ing undoubtedly with the Semitic inhabitants of the Euphrates
Valley, reverses the impression. The ' creation ' and ' Gilga-
mesh ' epics suffice, not merely for what they contain, but for
what they imply, to accord to Babylonian mythology a high
rank ; but in addition to these epics we have a large number of
tales of gods, demi-gods, demons, and spirits that illustrate the
capacity of the Babylonians for the production of myths.
Indeed, there is no longer any reason for doubting that the
Babylonian mythology exercised considerable influence upon
that of the Greeks. Further discoveries and researches may
show that distant India also felt at an early period the intel-
lectual stimulus emanating from the Euphrates Valley. At all
events, many of the features found in Babylonian myths and
legends bear so striking a resemblance to those occurring in
lands lying to the east and west of Babylonia, that a study of
Aryan mythology is sadly deficient which does not take into
account the material furnished by cuneiform literature. How
extensive the Babylonian mythology was must remain for the
present a matter of conjecture, but it is easier to err on the
side of underestimation than on the side of exaggeration. If
it be remembered that by far the smaller portion only of Ashur-
banabal's library has been recovered, and that of the various
literary collections that were gathered in the religious centers
MYTHS AND LEGENDS. 519
of the south, scarcely anything has as yet been found, it is cer-
tainly remarkable that we should be in possession of an elabor-
ate tale of a demi-god, Etana, of an extensive legend recounting
the deeds of the war and plague-god Difibarra, and of two genuine
storm myths, while the indications in Dr. Bezold's catalogue of
the Kouyunjik collection justify us in adding to the list several
other myths and legends, among the still unpublished tablets
of the British Museum.1 These myths and legends have a two-
fold value for us, a direct value because of the popular religious
ideas contained in them, and an indirect value by virtue of the
interpretation given to these ideas by the compilers. In the
literary form that the popular productions received, the influ-
ence of those who guided the religious thought into its proper
channels is to be clearly seen.
THE ETANA LEGEND.
It will be recalled that we came across a hero Etana in the
Gilgamesh epic.2 The name of the hero is Semitic, and sig-
nifies ' strong.' 8 An identical name appears in the Old Testa-
ment,4 and it is possible that the Babylonian Etana represents,
like Gilgamesh, some ancient historical person of whom a dim
tradition has survived among other nations besides the Baby-
lonians. The deeds recounted of him, however, place the
1 Some of these were already indicated (but only indicated) by George Smith in
his Chaldaeische Genesis (German translation), pp. 136-142. It is the merit of Dr.
E. J. Harper to have prepared an excellent publication of the material contained in
Smith's work, pp. 103-120, under the title " Die Babylonischen Legenden von Etana,
Zu, Adapa und Dibbarra" (Delitzsch and Haupt's Beitrdge zur Assyriologic, ii.
390-521). Additional material is furnished by two publications of mine: (a) a mono-
graph, "A Fragment of the Dibbarra Epic" (Boston, 1891), and (b) "A New
Fragment of the Babylonian Etana Legend " (Delitzsch and Haupt's Beitrdge zur
Assyriologie, iii. 363-381). See also Friedrich Jeremias in Chantepie de la Saus-
saye's Lehrlnich dcr Religionsgcschichte (2d edition), i. 218-221.
2 See above, p. 511.
3 See my remarks in Delitzsch and Haupt's Beitrdge zur Assyriologie, iii. 376.
4 I Kings, v. 11.
520 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
hero entirely in the domain of myth. His patron is Shamash,
the sun-god, and in popular tradition he becomes a member of
the pantheon of the nether world.
In the portions of the Etana legend preserved,1 two episodes
are detailed in the hero's career, one regarding the birth of a
son, the other a miraculous journey. The former episode jus-
tifies the assumption of a historical starting-point for the legend
of Etana.2 Among many nations the birth of a hero or of a
hero's son is pictured as taking place under great difficulties.
Etana's wife is in distress because she is unable to bring to the
world a child which she has conceived. Etana appeals to
Shamash. Through the mediation of the priests he has offered
sacrifices, and he now prays to Shamash to show him the
"plant of birth."
The oracles3 have completed my sacrifices,
They have completed my free-will offerings to the gods.
O Lord, let thy mouth command,
And give me the plant of birth,
Reveal to me the plant of birth,
Bring forth the fruit, grant me an offspring.
Of Shamash's reply only one line is preserved intact, in which
he tells Etana :
Take the road, ascend the mountain.
It is presumably upon the mountain that the plant grows
whose magical power will insure the happy delivery of the
expected offspring. Harper calls attention to a remarkable
parallel to this incident which is found in the Armenian and
Mandaean legends of the birth of Rustem, the son of Sal. The
latter's wife is unable to deliver her child because of its size.
Sal, who was reared by an eagle, has in his possession a pinion
1 Harper in Delitzsch and Haupt's Beitrdge zur Assyriologie, ii. 391-408.
2 Ib. pp. 405 seq.
3 Lit., ' the inquirers,' a designation of the priests in their capacity of oracle-
seekers.
MYTHS AND LEGENDS. 521
of the eagle, by means of which he can, when in distress,
invoke the presence of the bird. The father throws the pinion
into the fire, and the eagle appears. The latter gives the
mother a medicinal potion, and the child is cut out of the
womb. Etana, like Rustem, is accompanied by an eagle, and it
would appear that the eagle aids Etana in obtaining the plant.1
The eagle, in many mythologies, is a symbol of the sun, and it
is plausible to conclude that the bird is sent to Etana at the
instigation of Shamash. Who the son is that Etana expects
we are not told, and naturally from a single episode like this
— and one so fragmentary preserved — no safe conclusions
may be drawn. But the epic (if we may apply this term) must
have recounted some achievements of Etana, and as the
' strong ' one, his deeds must have borne some resemblance to
those of Gilgamesh. The birth of the son, it is furthermore
fair to presume, took place towards the end of Etana's career,
when his own life was drawing to a close. If a fragment 2 of
the tale were only better preserved, we would have an episode
of Etana's earlier career. But such is the condition of this
fragment that, at the most, it can be said that Etana is engaged
in some conflict against a city, in which Ishtar, Bel, the Anun-
naki, the Igigi, and some minor gods, as En-ninna, Sibittum,
are involved. The Etana series, as we learn from the colophon
to this fragment, was known by a designation in which a city 3
occurs, and it may be that this is the city against which Etana,
aided by the gods, proceeds. Leaving this aside, it is fortu-
nate that we have at least another episode in Etana's career
which enables us to establish the connecting link between the
hero as an historical personage and as a god or demi-god. As
Gilgamesh offers an insult to Ishtar, so Etana encounters the
ill-will of the great goddess, though through no direct offense.
1 The matter is not certain because of the sad condition of the fragments.
2 K. 2606, Harper, ib. pp. 399, 400.
3 Only a part of the name, /-si, is preserved.
522 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
The eagle tempts Etana to mount with him into the upper
regions. Etana is represented as giving, in part, an account of
this adventure, in the first person. The gates of the upper
regions are opened, and Etana is terrified at the majestic sight
which greets him. He sees a throne, and throws himself on
his countenance in terror. The gates are significantly desig-
nated as the gate of Anu, Bel, and Ea, and the gate of Sin,
Shamash, Ramman, and Ishtar. The introduction of the two
classes of the theological triads1 reveals the influence of a scho-
lastic elaboration of some popular myth. The eagle reassures
Etana, and addresses him as follows :
My friend lift up (?) [thy countenance],
Come and let me carry thee to the heaven [of Anu].
On my breast place thy breast,
On my pinion place thy palms,
On my side place thy side.
Etana obeys, and thus, securely attached to the eagle, begins
the daring journey. They fly for the space of a double hour,2
when .
The eagle addresses Etana:
Look, my friend, how the earth appears ;
Look at the sea and at its side, the house of wisdom; 3
The earth appears as a mountain, the sea has become a pool (?).
A second double hour he (i.e., the eagle) carried him on high.
The eagle spoke to Etana :
Look, my friend, how the earth appears;
The sea is a mere belt (?) around the earth.
A third double hour he carried him on high.
The eagle spoke to Etana :
Look, my friend, how the earth appears;
The sea is a mere gardener's ditch.4
1 See pp. 108, 163.
2 I.e., an army's march of two hours.
8 The dwelling of Ea. See Meissner, Alexander and Gilgamos, p. 17.
4 I.e., still smaller.
MYTHS AND LEGENDS. 523
In this way they reach the gate of Anu, Bel, and Ea in
safety, where they take a rest. The eagle is not yet satisfied,
and urges Etana to follow him to the domain of Ishtar.
Come, my friend [let me carry thee to Ishtar],
With Ishtar, the mistress [of the gods, thou shalt dwell],
In the glory of Ishtar, the mistress of the gods, [thou shalt sit ?].
On my side place thy side,
On my pinion place thy palms.
The gods, it will be seen, dwell on high in accordance with
the view developed by astronomical speculations.1 Anu, Bel,
and Ea are here evidently identified with the fixed stars bear-
ing their names,2 while under Ishtar the planet Ishtar- Venus is
meant. Etana yields, to the eagle's suggestion. They mount
still higher. Earth and ocean grow still smaller, the former
appearing only as large as 'a garden bed,' the latter like 'a
courtyard.' For three double hours they fly. Etana appears
to warn the eagle to desist from his rash intention, but the
warning comes too late. Etana and the eagle are thrown
down from the lofty regions. With lightning speed the descent
takes place, until the two reach the ground. The further course
of the narrative is obscure. Was Etana punished by being
sent to the nether world, where we find him in the Gilgamesh
epic ?3 There is a reference, unfortunately quite obscure, to the
death of Etana, and perhaps to his shade,4 in a portion of the
tablet. One certainly expects both Etana and the eagle to be
punished for their rash act, but until we can determine with
certainty what became of both, and with what purport the tale
is introduced into the career of Etana, the question must be
left open, as also the possibility of a connection between this
flight of Etana and the similar Greek myth of Ganymede.
The introduction of the eagle points clearly to the mythologi-
cal character of the tale, but flights of eagles occur so frequently
1 See above, p. 458. 8 See p. 511.
2 See p. 460. 4 Harper, ib. p. 404, note.
524 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
in the myths and legends of various nations that no great stress
is to be laid upon further parallels that might be adduced.1
The story found in Aelian and which has already been referred
to2 alone calls for mention here. According to this story, Gilga-
mesh, whose birth is feared by his cruel grandfather Sokkaros,
king of Babylonia, is thrown from the tower where his mother
was imprisoned and in which he was born, but in falling is
caught by an eagle and taken to a gardener who rears the
child. The eagle being the associate of Etana, the suspicion
is justified that the child thus miraculously saved is in reality
Etana and not Gilgamesh. At all events, there must be some
connection between the story of Aelian and the Babylonian
legend under consideration. The fate of the eagle is recounted
in another tablet of the Etana series,3 which again furnishes an
episode paralleled in the mythologies of other nations.
The eagle has lost favor with Shamash. Enmity has arisen
between the eagle and the serpent, and, curiously enough, the
latter stands under the protection of the sun-god. What the
cause of the enmity between eagle and serpent was, may have
been recounted in a missing portion of the tablet. The eagle
forms a plan of destroying the serpent's brood. He is warned
against this act by a young eagle, who is designated as a ' very
clever young one.'
Do not eat, O my father, the net of Shamash is laid (?) ;
The trap, the ban of Shamash, will fall upon thee and catch thee.
Who transgresses the law of Shamash, from him Shamash wrill exact
revenge.
But the eagle, we are told, paid no heed to the warning.
He descended and ate of the young of the serpent.
The serpent appeals to Shamash. He tells the sun-god of
the cruel deed of the eagle :
1 See Harper, ib. pp. 406, 407.
2 See above, p. 469. 3 Harper, pp. 392-394.
MYTHS AND LEGENDS. 525
See, O Shamash, the evil that he has done to me.
Help (?), O Shamash, thy net is the broad earth.
Thy trap is the distant heavens.
Who can escape thy net ? *
Zu,2 the worker of evil, the source of evil [did not escape?8].
Shamash responds to the appeal :
Upon his hearing the lament of the serpent,
Shamash opened his mouth and spoke to the serpent :
Go and ascend the mountain;
The carcass of a wild ox make thy hiding-place.
Open him, tear open his belly.
Make a dwelling place [of his belly].
All the birds of heaven will come down;
The eagle with them will come down.
Upon penetrating to the meat he will hastily proceed,
Making for the hidden parts.4
As soon as he has reached the inside,5 seize him by his wing,
Tear out his wing, his feather (?), his pinion,
Tear him to pieces, and throw him into a corner,
TO die a death of hunger and thirst.
This devilish plan is successfully carried out. With consid-
erable skill the narrative describes how the eagle, suspecting
some mischief, did not join the other birds, but when he saw
that they escaped without harm felt reassured. He tells his
brood :
Come, let us go and let us also pounce down upon the carcass of the wild
ox and eat, we too.
The eagle is again warned by his "very clever" offspring.
The rest of his brood join in the appeal, but
He did not hearken to them, and obeyed not the advice of his brood.
He swooped down and stood upon the wild ox.
1 J.e., one cannot escape from Shamash, since he traverses all space.
2 A personification of the storm. See below, pp. 537 seq. The line is very obscure
owing to the break in the tablet. 3 So Harper, but see pp. 541, 542.
4 I.e., he will dig his beak into the juicy part of the meat.
6 Of the carcass.
526 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
Still, he is not entirely free from suspicion, and the narrative
continues :
The eagle inspected the carcass, looking carefully to the front and behind
him.
He again inspected the carcass, looking carefully to the front and behind
him.
Detecting nothing to justify his suspicions, he digs his beak
into the carcass, but scarcely has he done so when the serpent
seizes hold of him. The eagle cries for mercy, and promises
the serpent a present of whatever he desires. The serpent is
relentless. To release the eagle would be to play false to
Shamash.
If I release thee . . .
Thy punishment will be transferred to me.
Thus the serpent justifies what he is about to do. In accord-
ance with the instructions of the sun-god, the eagle is stripped
of his wings and feathers, and left to die a miserable death.
In its present form this tale of the eagle and serpent forms
part of the Etana story.1 Jeremias is right in questioning
whether it originally had anything to do with Etana.2 Two
distinct stories have been combined, much as in the Gilgamesh
epic several tales have been thrown together. The association
of Etana with the eagle suggests the introduction of the episode
of the eagle's discomfiture. If one may judge of the two epi-
sodes related of Etana, he is not a personage regarded with
favor by the compilers. In both episodes we find him in dis-
tress. His flight with the eagle is regarded as a defiance of
the gods, though more blame attaches to the eagle than to him.
Shamash can hardly have regarded with favor the ambition of
a human being to mount to the dwelling of the gods. Gilga-
mesh makes no such attempt, and Parnapishtim is not carried
1 As shown by the colophon of K. 2606, and also by the fact that K. 1547, which
contains on the obverse the tale, contains on the reverse Etana's prayer to Shamash.
2 De la Saussaye's Lchrbnch der Rcligionsgeschichte (2d edition), i. 218.
MYTHS AND LEGENDS. 527
•
on high, but to " the confluence of the streams." Gilgamesh,
it will also be recalled, is unable to pass to the nether world
where Eabani is placed, and in the following chapter we will
come across a tale intended to illustrate the impossibility of
any one ever returning from the hollow under the earth where
the dead dwell. The story of Etana appears, therefore, to
emphasize the equal impossibility for any mortal to ascend
to the dwelling of the gods. Etana is deified, but he belongs
permanently to the region where all mortals go after their
career on earth is ended, — the nether world. One gains the
impression, therefore, that Etana is a hero of antiquity who
is not approved of by the Babylonian priests. Similarly, the
conflict between the eagle and the serpent suggests an oppo-
sition to the view which makes the eagle the symbol and mes-
senger of Shamash. The eagle recalls the winged disc, the
symbol of Ashur,1 and the eagle occurs also as a standard
among the Hittites,2 with whom, as we know, the Babylonians
came into contact. The story of Shamash, himself, laying the
trap for the eagle looks like a myth produced with some specific
intent, an illustration of legitimate sun-worship against rival
cults. As a matter of course, in the case of such a myth, it is
difficult to say where its popular character ends and the specu-
lative or scholastic theory begins. But whatever may have
been the original purport of the tale, for our purposes its sig-
nificance consists in the view unfolded of Shamash as the one
who wreaks vengeance on the evil-doer. Shamash appears
in the episode in the role of the just judge that characterizes
him in the hymns and incantations. Etana's reliance upon
the eagle leads to disgrace and defeat. In a representation of
the hero's flight on a seal cylinder,3 the disapproval of the act
1 See above, p. 195.
2 Perrot.and Chipiez, History of Art in Sardinia, Phoenicia, Judca, Syria, and
Asia Minor, ii. 176.
3 Pinches, Babylonian and Assyrian Cylinders, etc., of Sir Henry Peak, no. 18.
Cf. Harper, ib. p. 408.
528 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
is indicated by the addition of two dogs in a crouching position,
their gaze directed towards the bird. The dogs are a symbol
of the solar-god Marduk.1
THE LEGEND OF DIBBARRA.
Of more direct religious import is a story recounted in a
series comprising five tablets of the deeds of the war and
plague-god whose name is provisionally read Dibbarra.2 He is
a solar deity identified in the theological system of the Baby-
lonians with Nergal, but originally distinct and in all proba-
bility one of the numerous local solar deities of Babylonia like
Nin-girsu and Nin-gishzida, Ishum and others, whose roles are
absorbed by one or the other of the four great solar deities,—
Shamash, Marduk, Ninib, and Nergal. Nergal representing
the sun of midday and of the summer solstice, which brings in
its wake destruction of various kinds, it was appropriate that
a god who came to be specifically viewed as the god who
causes disease should be regarded as an aspect of the
terrible Nergal. In the legend that we are about to consider,
Dibbarra appears as the god of war. He is designated as the
' warrior.' The name of the god is written ideographically with
a sign that has the meaning of ' servant' and 'man.' To this
sign the phonetic complement ra is added. In view of a pas-
sage in a lexicographical tablet, according to which the name
of the god is designated as the equivalent of the. god Gir-ra,
Jensen concluded that the name was to be read Gira, and
Delitzsch3 is inclined to follow him. A difficulty, however,
arises through the circumstance that the element Gir in the
name Gir-ra is itself an ideograph. In any case, the designation
of the god as a * servant ' shows that he is described here by an
1 A lexicographical tablet, IIR. 56, col. iii. 22-25, mentions four dogs of Marduk.
2 See p. 232.
3 See Harper, ib. p. 426.
MYTHS AND LEGENDS. 529
epithet,1 and not by his real name, which is to be sought rather
in the sense of f strong,' that is one of the meanings of the ideo-
graph gir. The epithet 'servant' belongs to the period when the
god took his place in the theological system as one of the attend-
ants of the great Nergal, just as the plague-god is himself accom-
panied by a god Ishum, who acts as a kind of messenger or
attendant to him. It should be added that what little evidence
there was for the conventional reading Dibbarra2 has now been
dispelled, so that but for the desire to avoid useless additions
to the nomenclature of the Babylonian deities, the form Gir-ra
would have been introduced here, as for the present preferable.
Where the cult of Dibbarra centered we do not know, but
that he presided over a district that must have played a promi-
nent part at some period of Babylonian history is shown by
the elaborate legend of his deeds for which, as in the case of
Gilgamesh and Etana, we are justified in assuming an historical
background. In fact, the legend of Dibbarra is naught but a
poetic and semi-mythical disguise for severe conflicts waged
against certain Babylonian cities by some rival power that
had its seat likewise in the Euphrates Valley.
Of the five tablets, but four fragments have as yet been
found in such a condition as to be utilized. The longest of
these contains an address to Dibbarra by his faithful attendant
Ishum, in which the power of the war-god is praised and some
of his deeds recounted.
[The sons of] Babylon were (as) birds
And thou their falconer.
In a net thou didst catch them, enclose them, and destroy them,
O ! Warrior Dibbara,
Leaving the city,3 thou didst pass to the outside,
Taking on the form of a lion, thou didst enter the palace.
The people saw thee and drew (?) their weapons.
1 The ra is either a phonetic complement to the ideograph or is perhaps added to
suggest to the reader the identification with Gir-ra. a Babylon.
2 Namely, the connection with Hebrew deber, ' pestilence.' Cf. Harper, ib. p. 426.
530 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
The reference in these lines is to an attack upon the city of
Babylon. The war-god is pictured as striking out in all direc-
tions, imprisoning the inhabitants of Babylon within the city
walls, working havoc outside of the city, and not stopping short
at entering the palace. The metaphor of the war-god taking
on the form of a lion confirms the identification of Dibbarra
with Nergal, who is generally pictured as a lion.
In the following lines the enemy who makes this attack on
Babylon is introduced. He is designated as a ' governor,'
and Dibbarra is represented as giving him certain instructions
to carry out. The title * governor ' given to this enemy may
be taken as an indication that the epic deals with the rivalry
existing among the states of Babylonia, each represented by its
capitol. Ishum continues his address to Dibbarra :
The heart of the governor, intent upon taking vengeance on Babylon, was
enraged,
For capturing the possessions of the enemy, he sends out his army,
Filled with enmity towards the people.
Dibbarra is represented as addressing this governor:
In the city whither I send thee,
Thou shalt fear no one, nor have compassion.
Kill the young and old alike,
The tender suckling likewise — spare no one.
The treasures of Babylon carry off as booty.
Ishum continues his narrative :
The royal host was gathered together and entered the city.
The bow was strung, the sword unsheathed.
Thou didst blunt1 (?) the weapons of the soldiers,
The servitors of Anu and Dagan.
Their blood thou caused to flow like torrents of water through the city's
highways.
Thou didst tear open their intestines, and cause the stream to carry them
off.
1 Text obscure. " Sharpen badly " seems to be the idiomatic phrase used.
MYTHS AND LEGENDS. 531
Dagari is here used for Bel,1 and the phrase f servitors of Anu
and Dagan ' embraces the inhabitants of Babylon. Marduk,
the lord of Babylon, is enraged at the sight, but apparently is
powerless.
The great lord Marduk saw it and cried " Alas ! "
His senses left him.
A violent curse issued from his mouth.
At this point the tablet is defective, and when it again becomes
intelligible we find Ishum describing an attack of Dibbarra
upon another of the great centers of the Euphrates Valley —
the city of Uruk. Uruk is called the * dwelling of Anu and
Ishtar,' the city of the Kizreti, Ukhati, and Kharim&ti* — the
sacred harlots. Uruk suffers the same fate as Babylon:
A cruel and wicked governor thou didst place over them,
Who brought misery upon them, broke down (?) their laws.
Ishtar was enraged and filled with anger because of Uruk.
Her opposition, however, is as powerless to stem Dibbarra's
attack as was Marduk's grief at the onslaught on Babylon.
Dibbarra's greed is insatiable. Ishum continues his address
to him :
O warrior Dibbarra, thou dost dispatch the just,
Thou dost dispatch the unjust,
Who sins against thee, thou dost dispatch,
And the one who does not sin against thee thou dost dispatch.
The following lines reveal the purpose of Ishum's long
speech. A war more terrible even than the conflicts recounted
is planned by Ishum, one that is to involve all creation and
extend to the higher regions. Ishum asks Dibbarra's consent
to the fearful destruction held in view:
The brightness of Shul-pauddu3 I will destroy.
The root of the tree I will tear out
That it no longer blossom ;
1 See above, p. 154. 3 A solar deity. See p. 99.
2 See p. 475.
532 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
Against the dwelling of the king of gods, I will proceed. . . .
The warrior Dibbarra heard him.1
The speech of Ishum was pleasant to him as fine oil,
And thus the warrior Dibbarra spoke:
Sea-coast [against] sea-coast, Subartu against Subartu, Assyrian against
Assyrian,
Elamite against Elamite,
Cassite against Cassite,
Sutaean against Sutaean,
Kuthaean against Kuthaean,
Lullubite against Lullubite,
Country against country, house against house, man against man.
Brother is to show no mercy towards brother; they shall kill one another.
The lines remind one of the description in the Gilgamesh
epic of the terror aroused by the deluge,2 and one might be
tempted to combine Dibbarra's speech with the preceding
words of Ishum, and interpret this part of the Dibbarra legend
as another phase of the same nature myth, which enters as a
factor in the narrative of the Deluge. However, the continua-
tion of Dibbarra's speech shows that a great military conflict is
foretold. The countries named are those adjacent to Babylonia,
and the intention of the writer is evidently to imply that the
whole world is to be stirred up. This fearful state of hostility
is to continue until
After a time the Akkadian will come,
Overthrow all and conquer all of them.
Akkad, it will be recalled, is a name for Babylonia. The tri-
umph of Babylon is foretold in these lines. The Akkadian is,
therefore, none other than Hammurabi, who succeeds in obtain-
ing the supremacy over the entire Euphrates Valley, and whose
successors for many centuries claimed control of the four quar-
ters of the world.
It is evident from this ' prophecy ' that the Dibbarra legend
received its final shape under influences emanating from Baby-
lon, precisely as we found to be the case in the * creation ' story
l Ishum. 2 See above, p. 501.
MYTHS AND LEGENDS. 533
and in the Gilgamesh epic. The hostility that precedes the
coming of Hammurabi points to the violence of the conflicts in
which that warrior was engaged, while the exaggeration of this
hostility shows how strong and permanent the impression of
Hammurabi's achievements must have been. The designation
of the conqueror as the Akkadian gives him to a certain extent
the character of a Messiah, who is to inaugurate an era of
peace, and whose coming will appease the grim Dibbarra. It
is by no means impossible that Hebrew and Christian con-
ceptions of a general warfare which is to precede the golden
age of peace are influenced by the Babylonian legend under
consideration.
Dibbarra gives his consent to Ishum's plan :
Go, Ishum, carry out the word thou hast spoken in accordance with thy
desire.
Ishum proceeds to do so. The mountain Khi-khi is the first
to be attacked.
Ishum directed his countenance to the mountain Khi-khi.
The god Sibi,1 a warrior without rival,
Stormed behind him.
The warrior2 arrived at the mountain Khi-khi.
He raised his hand, destroyed the mountain.
He levelled the mountain Khi-khi to the ground.
The vineyards in the forest of Khashur he destroyed.
In a geographical list 3 a mountain Khi-khi, belonging to the
Amoritic country, is mentioned, and a mountain Khashur de-
scribed as a cedar district. There can be, therefore, no doubt
that some military expedition to western lands is recounted in
our tablet. The continuation of the narrative is lost, all but a
small fragment,4 which tells of the destruction of a city —
otherwise unknown — called Inmarmaru. At the instigation
1 /.£., seven. A collective personification of the seven evil spirits.
2 Ishum. 4 The one published by the writer.
3 IIR. 51, igc and 4a. Khashur is also used as a name for the cedar. See
Delitzsch, Assyr. Handworterbuch, p. 2953.
534 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION,
of Dibbarra, Ishum enters this city and destroys it. The out-
rages committed are described at some length. Ea, the god of
humanity, hears of the havoc wrought. He is 'filled with
wrath.' Unfortunately, the fragment is too mutilated to per-
mit us to ascertain what steps Ea takes against Dibbarra.
Marduk is also mentioned in this connection. Under the cir-
cumstances, one can only conjecture that in the missing por-
tions of this tablet, and perhaps also in two others, the wars
preceding the advent of the Akkadian l are recounted in poetic
and semi-mythical form. If this conjecture is justified, the
main purport at least of the Dibbarra legend becomes clear.
It is a collection of war-songs recalling the Hebrew anthology,
" Battles of Yahwe," 2 in which the military exploits of the
Hebrews were poetically set forth.
The closing tablet of the Dibbarra legend is preserved,3
though only in part. It describes the appeasement of the
dreadful war-god. All the gods, together with the Igigi and
Anunnaki, are gathered around Dibbarra, who addresses them:
Listen all of you to my words.
Because of sin did I formerly plan evil,
My heart was enraged and I swept peoples away.
He tells how he destroyed the flocks and devastated the fruits
in the fields, how he swept over the lands, punishing the just
and the wicked alike, and sparing no one. Ishum takes up the
strain and urges Dibbarra to desist from his wrath :
Do thou appease the gods of the land, who were angry,
May fruits (?) and corn4 flourish,
May mountains and seas bring their produce.
1 Hammurabi is the conqueror of Palestine mentioned in Gen. xiv. under the
name Amraphel. See, e.g., Hommel, Altisraelitische Ueberliefcrung, p. 106.
2 Num. xxi. 14. The ' song of Deborah ' (Judges, v.) belongs to this collection.
For further specimens of Babylonian war-songs, see Hommel, ib. pp. 180-190, — all
dealing with the memorable Hammurabi period.
3 K. 1282, Harper, ib. pp. 432 seq., and King's fragment, Zeitschrift fiir Assyrio-
logie, xi. 60, 61, 4 The gods of vegetation are mentioned.
MYTHS AND LEGENDS. 535
The era of peace and prosperity is thus inaugurated, and the
legend closes with solemn assurances from Dibbarra that he
will bless and protect those who properly honor him.
He who glorifies my name will rule the world.
Who proclaims the glory of my power
Will be without a rival.
The singer who sings [of my deeds] will not die through pestilence.
To kings and nobles his words will be pleasing.
The writer who preserves them will escape from the grasp of the enemy.
In the temple where the people proclaim my name
I will open his ear ; 1
In the house where this tablet is set up, though war 2 may rage,
And god Sibi work havoc,
Sword and pestilence will not touch him — he will dwell in safety.
Let this song resound forever and endure for eternity.
Let all lands hear it and proclaim my power.
Let the inhabitants of all places learn to glorify my name.
This closing address represents a late addition to the poem
that somewhat modifies its original import. Wars did not
cease with the establishment of Babylon's control. Many con-
flicts arose, but on the whole, Babylonia was an empire of
peace. The people were inclined towards a life of ease, and
the development of commerce served as a wholesome check
against too frequent military disturbances. The war-songs, as
a glorification of the nation's past, retained their popularity,
but the lesson drawn from the songs was the great blessing
that peace and freedom from turmoil brought with them. For
the warlike Assyrians, Dibbarra enraged may have been a more
popular figure, but to the peace-loving Babylonian, the appeased
Dibbarra appealed with greater force. The story of Dibbarra's
deeds became in this way in the course of time an object
lesson, a kind of religious allegory handed down from one gen-
eration to the other as an illustration of the horrors of war and
1 /.£., give wisdom to the one who honors me.
2 Text ' Dibbarra.'
536 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
of violence in general. With the tendency — so characteristic
of the Babylonian religion l — for great gods to absorb the roles
of minor ones, Nergal became the god of war par excellence,
while Dibbarra, Ishum, and Sibi were chiefly viewed as powers
responsible for such forms of violence as pestilence and dis-
tress. To ensure the favor of a god of pestilence was of
importance for every individual, and one of the safest means
of obtaining this favor was to sing his praises, to recall his
power, — to glorify him and thus to keep him, as it were, in good
humor. What better means of accomplishing this than to have
the record of his deeds constantly before one's eyes ? The
British Museum contains two specimens of tablets on which a
portion of the Dibbarra legend is inscribed, and which are
pierced with holes in a manner as to leave no doubt2 that the
tablets were intended to be hung up in houses with a view of
securing protection from Dibbarra and his associates. The
reference in the closing lines of the story:
The house where this tablet is set up,
thus becomes clear. As the Hebrews were commanded, in
order to secure the protection of Yahwe, to write his law
On the doorposts of the house,3
so the Babylonians were instructed by their priests to hang
tablets in their homes — probably at the entrance — on which
Dibbarra was glorified. Naturally, it was impossible to inscribe
the whole story on a little tablet, just as it was impossible to
place the entire law of Yahwe on the doorposts. In both cases
a significant extract served as a part, representative of the
whole. In the case of the Dibbarra legend, the closing portion
was selected, which emphasized the necessity of keeping the
deeds of Dibbarra and the greatness of his power in mind.
Like the Gilgamesh epic, so the Dibbarra legend was to be
1 See above, p. 114. 3 Deut. vi. 9.
2 As Mr. King has shown (Zeitsch rift fur A ssyriologie, xi. 53). See above, p. 269.
MYTHS AND LEGENDS. 537
taught by the father to his son. The scribes were enjoined to
teach the story to the people. The poets were to make it the
subject of their songs, and kings and nobles were not exempt
from the obligation to listen to the tale.
THE MYTH OF THE STORM-GOD Zu.
Birds and bulls were to the Babylonians the symbols of
storms and clouds. In the Gilgamesh epic, it will be recalled,
Anu sends a divine bull to engage in a contest with Gilgamesh.1
The text of the epic being unfortunately defective, we have no
definite indication of the character of the attack to be made
upon the hero by the messenger from the god of heaven ; but
since storms and disease are the two chief weapons in the
hands of the gods, and inasmuch as Gilgamesh in a later sec-
tion of the epic is struck down by disease, it is more than
likely that the bull represents a storm that is to sweep the hero
and his companion off the earth. The winged bulls placed at
the entrance of palaces embody the same idea, and in addition
to the explanation for these fantastic figures above 2 suggested,
it is noteworthy that the two types of animals chosen for this
symbolical decoration of edifices, the bull and the lion, again
illustrate the same two means at the disposal of the gods for
the punishment of man, the bull representing the storms, and
the lion being the symbol of Nergal, who is the god of pestilence,
as well as of war and of violent destruction in general.
A storm-god symbolized under the form of a bird is Zu. The
underlying stem of the word conveys the notion of strength
and violence. How bulls came to be chosen as symbols of
storms is not altogether clear. Possibly the element of ' strength '
formed the connecting link in the chain of the association of
ideas. In the case of birds, on the other hand, the association
is to be sought in the appearance of the clouds during a storm
i See p. 483. 2 See p. 263.
538 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
moving across the heavens like a flock of birds. In the Etana
legend, a reference occurs to Zu, who, as it would appear, is un-
able to escape from the control of the supreme judge Shamash.1
Zu is there called the chief worker of evil — a kind of arch satan.
A story has been found which illustrates an attempt made by
the bird Zu to break loose from the control of the sun. A
storm was viewed as a conflict between the clouds and the sun,
much as an eclipse symbolized a revolt in the heavens. The
myth represents the conflict as taking place between Zu and
En-lil, the Bel of Nippur. The latter holds in his possession
the tablets of fate, by means of which he enjoys supreme
authority over men and gods. Zu's jealousy is aroused, and he
plans to tear these tablets from En-lil. The tablets of fate, it
will be recalled, play an important part in the Marduk-Tiamat
episode.2 Kingu — the symbol of chaos, like Tiamat — wears
them on his breast, but he is obliged to yield them to the con-
queror of Tiamat and of her brood, who replaces ' chaos ' by
' order.' This conqueror was originally Bel of Nippur, and
the Zu myth in representing En-lil as holding the tablets of fate
confirms the view above set forth,3 according to which the
original Tiamat tale has been modified by the substitution of
Marduk for the old Bel. But the story, while thus admitting
the legitimacy of En-liPs claim to supreme power, is yet so con-
structed as to* contribute to the glory of Marduk. The attack
of the Zu-bird was suggested — as the Tiamat myth — by the
annual storms that work such havoc in Babylonia. The forces
of ' chaos ' are let loose, and an attempt is made to overthrow
the ' order ' of the world, symbolized by the tablets of fate
which En-lil holds in his possession. Whoever has these
tablets is invincible. But En-lil is unable to resist the attack
of Zu. The tablets are taken away from him, and it is left for
Marduk to recapture them. The tablets once in Marduk's
1 See p. 525. 2 See pp. 420, 428.
3 See pp. 439 seg.
MYTHS AND LEGENDS. 539
possession, En-liPs supremacy comes to an end, and the tri-
umph of Marduk is complete. To substantiate this interpre-
tation of the myth, an analysis of the text is necessary. The
beginning of the story is unfortunately missing. It appears
to have been devoted to a glorification of the god who controls
the fate of the universe. The second column opens as follows:
And the oracles of all the gods he determined.
From the context it is clear that Bel of Nippur is meant. Up
to this point, the myth reflects the old view according to which
it was En-lil who succeeded in overcoming Tiamat or at any
rate, in snatching the tablets of fate from the breast of Kingu.
Nippur' j god lays claim to being the one who established 'order'
in the universe. His authority could only be threatened if he
were robbed of the tablets which symbolize absolute control
over the course of affairs. Zu boldly attempts this:
His eyes saw the mark of rulership,
The crown of his 1 sovereignty, the garment of his l divinity.
Zu saw the divine tablets of fate.
He looked at the father of the gods, the god of Bur-an-ki,2
Desire for rulership seizes hold of his heart.3
' I will take the tablets of the gods
And decree the decisions [of all the gods.']
I will establish my throne, I will proclaim laws.
I will give all orders to all the Igigi.'
Zu proceeds to the dwelling-place of En-lil and waits for a
favorable moment to make an attack.
His heart was bent on the contest.
With his gaze directed toward the entrance of the dwelling,4 he awaits for
the beginning of day.
1 1.e., En-lil's.
2 /.£., ' the bond of heaven and earth,' the name probably of a temple-tower in Nip-
pur, sacred to En-lil.
3 Zu's heart. These two lines are repeated.
4 The word Kissu applies more especially to the dwelling places of the gods.
Delitzsch, Assyr. Handwdrterlntch, p. 349b.
540 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
As En-lil poured forth the brilliant waters,
Took his seat on his throne and put on his crown,
He 1 snatched the tablets of fate out of his hands,
Seized the authority — the promulgation of laws.
Thereupon Zu flew off and hid himself in his mountain.
On seal cylinders a god is frequently pictured pouring forth
streams of water from jars placed on his shoulders. This is
generally the sun-god, but the symbol also seems to belong to
other deities 2 and is appropriate to Bel of Nippur, who as the
god of the atmosphere above the earth, controls the upper wa-
ters. As long as these are poured out by him, they are benefi-
cent ; but once beyond his control, the blessing of rain is turned
into the curse of a deluge and storm, flooding the fields and
sweeping away the habitations of men. This misfortune hap-
pens when Zu robs En-lil of the tablets by means of which law
and order are established. En-lil is powerless. The bold act
of Zu causes consternation among the gods. Anu calls upon
some one to pursue Zu and capture him. The bird dwells in
an inaccessible recess in the mountains, and the gods are afraid
to approach his nest. The scene that ensues reminds us of the
episode of the creation epic, where Anshar calls upon Anu, Bel,
and Ea in turn to subdue Tiamat.
Anu opens his mouth and speaks,
Addressing the gods his children :
' Who will force Zu to submit
And thus make his name great among the inhabitants of the whole world ? '
Ramman the storm-god par excellence is first called upon by
the assembled gods:
'Ramman the chief,' they cried, 'the son of Anu.'
Anu communicated to him 3 the order.4
' Go, my son Ramman, conqueror who yields to no one,
1 Zu.
2 See e.g., Ward, Seal Cylinders of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 12.
3 Ramman.
4 These two lines are repeated.
MYTHS AND LEGENDS. 541
Subdue Zu with thy weapon,1
That thy name be glorified in the assembly of the great gods.
Thou shalt be without a rival among the gods thy brothers.'
Arm furthermore promises Ramman that if he triumphs, lofty
shrines will be erected in his honor in many cities.
' Temples will be built in thy honor,
In all quarters of the world thy cities 2 will be situated,
Thy cities 3 will reach up to Ekur.4
Show thyself strong among the gods, so that thy name be powerful.'
Ramman, however, is afraid of the contest.
Ramman answered the speech,
Addressing his father Anu :
' My father, who can proceed to the inaccessible mountain?
Who is there like Zu among the gods, thy children ? '
He furthermore pleads that Zu, who has the tablets of fate in
his hands, is invincible. He has the power to decree the fates
of the gods, and all must bow to his will. At this point, unfor-
tunately, the text becomes defective. Anu calls upon two
other gods to take up the contest with Zu. The name of one
of these is altogether lost ; the second is called Bar,5 and is
designated as an offspring of Ishtar. Both these deities decline,
answering Anu in precisely the same manner as Ramman.
What finally happens we are left to conjecture. Harper0 sup-
poses that Shamash is finally called upon by Anu and accepts
the challenge. He bases this opinion upon the passage in the
Dibbarra legend7 where the serpent, appealing to Shamash,
extols the sun-god's power by declaring that even Zu could
not escape the net of Shamash. There are, however, grave
objections to this view. In the first place, the passage in ques-
1 The thunderbolt. 2 Cities sacred to thee.
3 J.e., the sacred edifices in these cities.
4 The lofty dwelling of the gods is here meant. See chapter xxvii.
5 Ideographic reading — the ideograph signifies ' shrine.' The verbal stem bararu
means ' to shine.' « See p. 414. ' See p. 525.
542 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
tion occurs in a defective part of the text, and Harper himself1
is not certain of the restoration that he proposes.2 Secondly,
if Shamash conquers Zu, we should expect the sun-god to have
the tablets of fate in his possession. Such, however, is not the
case, and the only god besides En-lil who is represented in the
religious literature of the Babylonians as holding the tablets is
Marduk. Moreover, in a hymn to Marduk, which Harper him-
self quotes,3 the bird Zu is referred to as among the evil forces
captured by Marduk. In view of this, there seems no reason
to question that, in the present form of the Zu myth, Marduk
was introduced as the hero, precisely as, in the present form of
the Tiamat episode, Marduk successfully carries out a deed
from which the other gods shrink in fear. The theological
purport of the myth thus becomes clear. It is to account for
the fact that Marduk holds the tablets which were originally
in the hands of En-lil. Marduk supplants the old Bel. In
the Tiamat episode his name is substituted for that of En-lil,
and the latter is represented as giving his consent to the trans-
fer of his name to the god of Babylon. In the Zu myth, En-lil's
claim to the supreme control of the laws and fate of the uni-
verse is freely acknowledged, but, En-lil being unable to resist
the attack of Zu, it was left for Marduk to capture the bird and
thus acquire by his own efforts what the old Bel had lost
through lack of strength. Babylon replaces Nippur as the
center of power in the Euphrates Valley, and the god of Baby-
lon, naturally, was imbued by his worshippers with prerogatives
that originally belonged to the rival god of Nippur.4
If this view is correct, Harper's interpretation must be aban-
1 See p. 400. 3 See p. 417.
2 It is quite possible that the line in question declares that Zu is in collusion with
the eagle, against whom the serpent seeks the assistance of Shamash.
4 It is hardly possible that the illustration on seal cylinders mentioned by Ward,
ib. pp. 13, 14, represents the Zu bird brought before a deity for punishment; and
certainly not before Shamash, who only enters into the story in so far as Marduk is
a solar deity.
MYTHS AND LEGENDS. 543
doned. The Zu myth does not represent, as he supposes, an
attack upon Marduk as the symbol of the early morning sun,
but upon En-lil, the Bel of Nippur, as the one who, by virtue of
having the tablets of fate in his possession, controls the laws of
the universe and fixes the fate of the gods and of mankind.
The annual rain-storm passing apparently beyond the control
of the gods is viewed as a revolt against En-lil's authority. It
is left for Marduk to reestablish order, and in return, he retains
control of the precious tablets. That the conception of Marduk
as a solar deity constitutes a factor in the myth is not, of course,
to be denied, precisely as in the Tiamat myth, the solar charac-
ter of Marduk plays an important part. The sun triumphs
over the storms. Rain and wind are obliged at last to yield
their authority to the former. But for the theologians of Baby-
lon, the position of Marduk as the head of the pantheon was a
much more important factor. The myth served to show how
Marduk came to supplant the role of the old Bel of Nippur.
Viewed in this light, the Zu myth appears in more senses
than one as a pendant to the Marduk-Tiamat episode. Not
only do both symbolize the same natural phenomenon, but in
both, Bel of Nippur was originally the central figure of the pan-
theon, and in both Marduk replaces Bel. The Zu myth is
made to account in a somewhat more respectful, conciliatory
manner for the position of Marduk as the head of the pantheon.
Instead of setting aside En-lil altogether, as was done by the
compilers of the Tiamat myth, Marduk conquers for himself
the supremacy that his followers claimed for him. The con-
tradictions between the two myths need not disturb us. As
variant versions of a tale intended to account for one and the
same fact, — the supremacy of Marduk, — they may well have
arisen even in the same place. Such inconsistencies as the
assumption, in the Zu version of the nature myth, that En-lil is
the original establisher of order in the world, as against the
Tiamat version where Marduk snatches the tablets of fate
544 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
directly from Kingu, are inevitable when stories that arose
among the people are taken in hand by theologians and modi-
fied and adapted to serve doctrines developed under scholastic
influences.
THE ADAPA LEGEND.
The myths and legends that we have so far considered —
including the creation and Gilgamesh epics — will have illus-
trated two important points : firstly, the manner in which
historical occurrences were clothed in mythical form and inter-
woven with purely legendary tales, and, secondly, the way in
which nature myths were treated to teach certain doctrines.
The story of Gilgamesh is an illustration of the hopelessness of
a mortal's attempt to secure the kind of immortal life which is
the prerogative of the gods. Popular tales, illustrative of the
climatic conditions of Babylonia, serve as a means of unfolding
a doctrine of evolution and of impressing upon the people a
theological system of beliefs regarding the relationship of the
gods to one another. A collection of war-songs is given a semi-
mythical form, and the original purport of the collection is
modified to serve as a talisman against misfortunes. In the
case of these legends it is necessary and, as we have seen, also
possible to distinguish between their original and present form
and to separate the story, as in the case of the Gilgamesh epic,
into its component parts.
The legend that we are about to consider proves that this
process of the adaptation of popular myths begins at a very
early period. The text was found on the cuneiform tablets dis-
covered at El-Amarna in Egypt.1 Since the El-Amarna tablets
date from the fifteenth century B.C., we have a proof of the
compilation of the legend in question at this date. The legend
is again suggested by the storms which visited Babylonia, but
1 Published by Winckler and Abel, Der Thontafelfund von El-Amarna, iii.
i66a, b; translated also by Harper, ib. pp. 420, 421.
MYTHS AND LEGENDS. 545
instead of a pure nature-myth, we have a tale which concerns
the relationship between the gods and mankind. In its present
form, it is an object lesson dealing with the same problem that
we came across in the Gilgamesh epic and that we will meet
again in another form, — the problem of immortality.
The beginning of the story, as in the case of the Zu myth, is
missing, but we are in a position to restore at least the general
context. A fisherman, Adapa, is engaged in plying his trade
when a storm arises. Adapa is designated as the son of Ea.
The place where he is fishing is spoken of as f the sea.' The
Persian Gulf is meant, and this body of water (as the begin-
ning of the great Okeanos) being sacred to Ea,1 the description
of Adapa as the son of Ea is a way of conveying the idea that,
like Parnapishtim, he stands under the protection of Ea. The
story, like most legends, assumes a period of close intercourse
between gods and men, a time when the relationship involved
in being 'a son of a god' had a literal force which was lost to a
more advanced generation. Adapa, accordingly, is portrayed
as fishing for the 'house of his lord,' i.e., for Ea. When the
storm breaks loose the fisherman, though a mortal, subdues the
fierce element. The storm comes from the south, the direction
from which the most destructive winds came to Babylonia. The
south wind is pictured, as in the Zu myth, under the form of a
bird. The wind sweeps Adapa into the waters, but, since this
element is controlled by Adapa's father, — the god Ea, — Adapa
succeeds in mastering the south wind, and, as we learn from
the course of the narrative, in breaking the wings of the storm-
bird. When the tablet becomes intelligible we find Adapa
engaged in this contest with the south wind.2
The south wind blew and drove him 3 under the water. Into the dwell-
ing-place4 [of the fish] it engulfs him. 'O south wind, thou hast over-
whelmed me with thy cruelty (?). Thy wings I will break.'
1 See above, p. 63. 3 Adapa.
2 My rendering is given in continuous lines. The legend is in narrative, not in
poetic form. * Lit., ' house.'
546 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
Adapa's threat is carried out.
Even as he spoke the wings of the south wind were broken. For seven
days the south wind did not blow across the land.
Seven is to be interpreted as a round number, as in the
Deluge story, and indicates a rather long, though indefinite,
period. Anu, the god of heaven, is astonished at this long-
continued disappearance of the south wind, and asks a mes-
senger of his, who is called the god Ilabrat, for the cause. Anu
inquires:
" Why has the south wind not blown for seven days across the land ? "
His messenger Ilabrat answered him : " My lord ! Adapa, the son of Ea,
has broken the wings of the south wind."
Of this god Ilabrat nothing is known. The interpretation of
his name is doubtful.1 He probably is one of the numerous
local gods who was absorbed by some more powerful one and
who thus came to have a position of inferior rank in the
pantheon.
Anu, upon hearing the news,«is enraged, and cries for * help '
against an interference in his domain. He denounces Adapa
in solemn assembly, and demands his presence of Ea, in whose
domain Adapa has taken refuge. The text at this point is
defective, but one can gather that Ea, who constitutes himself
Adapa's protector, warns the latter, as he warned Parnapishtim.
He advises him to present himself at the throne of Anu for
trial, and to secure the intervention of two gods, Tammuz and
Gishzida, who are stationed at the gate of heaven, Anu's
dwelling-place. To accomplish this, Adapa is to clothe himself
in garments of mourning, and when the doorkeepers ask him
the reason for his mourning, he is to answer:
. . . Two gods have disappeared from our earth, therefore do I appear
thus.
1 Neither Delitzsch's suggestion ' god of dwellings ' nor Harper's ' god thou art
strong ' is acceptable.
MYTHS AND LEGENDS. 547
And when he is asked :
" Who are the two gods who have disappeared from the earth ? "
Tammuz and Gishzida will look at one another ; they will sigh and
speak a favorable word before Anu, and the glorious countenance of Anu
they will show thee.
Tammuz and Gishzida will know that they are meant. The
mourning of Adapa will be regarded as a sign of reverence for
the two gods, whose sympathy and good-will will thus be
secured.
The introduction of Tammuz and Gishzida introduces a
widely spread nature-myth into the story. Gishzida is identical
with Nin-gishzida, a solar deity whom we came across in the
old Babylonian pantheon.1 Tammuz similarly is a solar deity.
Both represent local solar cults. At a later period, Nin-gishzida
is entirely absorbed by Ninib, but the Adapa legend affords us
a glimpse of the god still occupying an independent, though al-
ready inferior, position. The Babylonian calendar2 designates
the fifth month as sacred to Gishzida, while the fourth month is
named for Tammuz. The two deities, therefore, take their
place in the systematized pantheon as symbolical of the phases
of the sun peculiar to its approach to the summer solstice.
The disappearance of the two gods signifies the decline of the
year after the summer solstice. Of Tammuz, the popular myth
related that it was Ishtar,3 represented as his consort, who car-
ried him off. Since the disappearance of Gishzida embodies
precisely the same idea as that of Tammuz, it was natural that
the story should in time have been told only of the one. The
annual mourning for Tammuz was maintained in Babylonia to
a very late period. The Adapa legend shows us that at one
time the festival was celebrated in honor of the two related
deities. The Tammuz festival was celebrated just before the
summer solstice set in, so that the mourning was followed
1 See p. 99. 2 See p. 462.
3 See the following chapter.
548 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION,
immediately by rejoicing at the reappearance of the god whose
coming heralded the culmination of vegetation.
The destructive storms take place during the winter, when
Tammuz and Gishzida have disappeared. Adapa's mourning
is thus an indication of the season of the year when his encoun-
ter with the south wind took place. Since Adapa succeeds in
overcoming the destructive wind, the wintry season has passed
by. Summer is approaching. The time for celebrating both
the fast and the festival of the two solar deities has arrived.
Tammuz and Gishzida, the gods of spring, accordingly stand
at Adapa's side, ready to plead his cause before Anu. So
much being clear, we may advance a step further in the inter-
pretation of the legend. By the side of Tammuz and Gishzida,
there is still a third solar deity who belongs to the spring of
the year, — Marduk, who, by virtue of his later position as the
head of the pantheon, sets aside his two fellows and becomes
the solar god of spring par excellence. Marduk, it will be
recalled, is commonly designated as the son of Ea,1 and we
have seen that, apart from political considerations, the sun
rising out of the ocean — the domain of Ea — was a factor in
this association. Adapa dwells at the sea, and is forced into
the ocean by the south wind, in the same way that the sun dips
into the great ' Okeanos ' every evening. The identification of
Adapa with Marduk 2 thus becomes apparent, and as a matter
of fact the Babylonian scribes of later times3 accepted this
identification.
The basis of the Adapa legend is, therefore, the nature-myth
of the annual fight of the sun with the violent elements of
nature. At the same time, other ideas have been introduced
into it, and Adapa himself, while playing the role of Marduk, is
yet not entirely confounded with this god. His name is never
1 See pp. 139 seq.
2 First suggested by Zimmern.
3 Of the eighth century. See Harper, ib. p. 424.
MYTHS AND LEGENDS. 549
written with the determinative for deity. Moreover, the nature-
myth is soon lost sight of, in order to make room for an entirely
different order of ideas. The real purport of the legend in its
present form is foreshadowed by the further advice that Ea
offers to Adapa:
When thou comest before Anu they will offer thee food of death. Do
not eat. They will offer thee waters of death. Do not drink. They will
offer thee a garment. Put it on. They will offer thee oil. Anoint thy-
self. The order that I give thee do not neglect. The word that I speak to
thee take to heart. The messenger of Anu approached.1 ' Adapa has
broken the wings of the south wind. Deliver him into my hands. . . .'
Ea obeys the order, delivers up Adapa, and everything happens
as was foretold.
Upon mounting to heaven and on his approach to the gate of Anu,
Tammuz and Gishzida were stationed at the gate of Anu. They saw Adapa
and cried ' Help,2 Lord ! Why art thou thus attired ? For whom hast thou
put on mourning?'3
Adapa replies :
' Two gods have disappeared from the earth, therefore do I wear a
mourning garment.'
' Who are the two gods who have disappeared from the earth ? '
Tammuz and Gishzida looked at one another, broke out in lament.
' O Adapa ! Step before King Anu.' As he approached, Anu saw him and
cried out to him :
' Come, Adapa, why hast thou broken the wings of the south wind ? '
Adapa answered Anu : ' My lord ! For the house of my lord 4 I was
fishing in the midst of the sea. The waters lay still around me, when the
south wind began to blow and forced me underneath. Into the dwelling of
the fish it drove me. In the anger of my heart [I broke the wings of the
south wind].'
Tammuz and Gishzida thereupon intercede with Anu on
behalf of Adapa, and succeed in appeasing the god's wrath. If
1 To Ea. 4 /.^ Ea.
2 Anu, it will be recalled, utters the same cry. See p. 546.
3 Referring to his garments of mourning.
550 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
the story ended here, we would have a pure nature-myth the
same myth in a different form that we encountered in the Cre-
ation epic, in the Deluge story, and in the Zu legend. Adapa
would be merely a designation of Marduk and nothing more.
The sun triumphs over the storms, and the only objectionable
feature in the tale — to a Babylonian — would be the degra-
dation involved in obliging Marduk to secure the intercession
of other gods. But this feature of itself suggests that the nature-
myth has been embodied in the legend, but does not constitute
the whole of it. A second element and one entirely independ-
ent in its character has been added to the myth.
Anu is appeased, but he is astonished at Ea's patronage of
Adapa, as a result of which a mortal has actually appeared in
a place set aside for the gods.
Why did Ea permit an impure mortal to see the interior of heaven and
earth ? He made him great and gave him fame.1
The privilege accorded to Adapa appears to alarm the gods.
As among the Greeks and other nations, so also the Babylonian
deities were not free from jealousy at the power and achieve-
ments of humanity. Adapa, having viewed the secrets of
heaven and earth, there was nothing left for the gods but to
admit him into their circle. The narrative accordingly con-
tinues :
' Now what shall we grant him ? Offer him food of life, that he may eat
of it.' They brought it to him, but he did not eat. Waters of life they
brought him, but he did not drink. A garment they brought him. He put
it on. Oil they brought him. He anointed himself.
Adapa follows the instructions of Ea, but the latter, it will
be recalled, tells Adapa that food and water of death will be
offered him. It is Ea, therefore, who, although the god of
humanity, and who, moreover, according to the tradition in-
volved in the Adapa legend, is the creator of mankind, who
i I follow Zimmern's rendition of the line.
MYTHS AND LEGENDS. 551
prevents his creatures from gaining immortality. The situation
is very much the same that we find in the third chapter of
Genesis, when God, who creates man, takes precautions lest
mortals eat of the tree of life and * live forever.' The problem
presented by the Hebrew and Babylonian stories is the same:
why should not man, who is descended from the gods, who is
created in the likeness of a god, who by virtue of his intellect
can peer into the secrets of heaven and earth, who stands
superior to the rest of creation, who, to use the psalmist's
figure, is only * a scale lower than god,' why should he not be
like the gods and live forever ? The Hebrew legend solves
the problem in a franker way than does the Babylonian. God,
while as anxious as Ea to keep man from eating of the tree of
life, cautions Adam against the act, whereas Ea practises a
deception in order to prevent man from eating. That in both
tales eternal life is contained in food points again (as we have
found to be the case with the Biblical narratives of Creation
and of the Deluge) to a common source for the two traditions.
Similarly the phrase 'waters of life' is a figure of speech of fre-
quent occurrence in Biblical literature in both the Old and the
New Testaments. It is no argument against a common source
for the Hebrew and Babylonian stories explaining how man
came to forego immortality, that the waters of life should be
found in the one and not in the other. If we assume with
Gunkel l that the stories embodied in the first chapters of
Genesis were long current among the Hebrews before they
were given a permanent form, the adaptation of old traditions
to an entirely new order of beliefs involves a casting aside
of features that could not be used and a discarding of such as
seemed superfluous. The striking departures in the case of
the Hebrew legends from their Babylonian counterparts are as
full of significance as the striking agreements between the two.
The departures and agreements must both be accounted for.
1 Schdpfung und C/iaos, pp. 168 seq.
552 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
For both there are reasons. So, to emphasize only one point,
in a monotheistic solution of the problem under consideration,
there was no place for any conflict among the gods. In Genesis
God simply wills that man should not eat of the tree of life.
In the Adapa legend the gods, including Anu, are willing to
grant a mortal the food and water of life, simply because they
believe that Ea, the creator of man, wishes him to have it.
Accordingly, Anu and his associates are represented at the
close of the legend as being grieved that Adapa should have
foregone the privilege.
Anu looked at him l and lamented over him. ' Come, Adapa, why didst
thou not eat and not drink ? Now thou canst not live.'
Adapa replies, unconscious of the deception practised on him :
' Ea, my lord, commanded me not to eat and not to drink.'
Adapa returns to the earth. What his subsequent fate is we
do not know, for the tablet here comes to an end. It is pos-
sible that he learns what Ea has done, and that the god gives
him the reason for the deception practised. A scene of this
kind could not find a place in the Hebrew version that em-
phasizes the supreme authority of a power besides whom none
other was recognized. God acts alone.
Adam, it will be recalled, after eating of the fruit of the tree
of knowledge, makes a garment for himself. There can be no
doubt that there is a close connection between this tradition
and the feature in the Adapa legend, where Adapa, who has
been shown the 'secrets of heaven and earth,' — that is, has
acquired knowledge, — is commanded by Ea to put on the gar-
ment that is offered him. The anointing oneself with oil,
though an essential part of the toilet in the ancient and modern
Orient, was discarded in the Hebrew tale as a superfluous
feature. The idea conveyed by the use of oil was the same as
i Adapa.
MYTHS AND LEGENDS. 553
the one indicated in clothing one's nakedness. Both are sym-
bols of civilization which man is permitted to attain, but his
development stops there. He cannot secure eternal life.
On the other hand, in comparing the Hebrew and Babylonian
versions of the problem of knowledge and immortality, one can-
not help being struck by the pessimistic tone of the former as
against the more consolatory spirit of the latter. God does not
want man to attain even knowledge.1 He secures it in dis-
obedience to the divine will, whereas Ea willingly grants him
the knowledge of all there is in heaven and earth. In this
way the Hebrew and Babylonian mind, each developed the
common tradition in its own way.
Leaving the comparison aside and coming back for a moment
to the Adapa story, it is interesting to observe that as we have
two tales, both intended to explain the position of Marduk at
the head of the pantheon, the one by making him the conqueror
of Tiamat and forcing from Kingu the tablets of fate, the other
by representing him as recovering from Zu the tablets which
En-lil, who originally held them, could not protect against the
storm-bird, so we have two solutions offered for the problem of
immortality. The one in the Gilgamesh epic, where the hero
is told of the plant of life, succeeds in rinding it, but as he is
about to eat the ' food ' loses his grasp upon it. The exertions
of man are in vain. True, there is Parnapishtim, a mortal who
with his wife has obtained immortal life. He is the exception
that proves the rule. Moreover, it is Bel, and not Ea, who
places Parnapishtim ' at the confluence of streams,' there to live
forever, and Bel does this as a proof of his pacification, a kind
of indemnity offered to Ea for having destroyed the offspring
of the god of humanity. The Adapa legend attacks the prob-
lem more seriously. Ea, the same god who has created man,
endowed him with wisdom, bestowed all manner of benefits
1 The phrase ' knowledge of good and evil ' (Gen. ii. 1 7) is simply an expression
equivalent to our 'everything,' or to the Babylonian ' secrets of heaven and earth.'
554 BABYLONIAN- ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
upon him, Ea, who protects humanity against Anu, against Bel,
and other gods, Ea himself deceives man. Evidently the lesson
that the Babylonian theologians intended to teach through the
Adapa legend was, that it was not good for man to 'live forever.'
Ea himself prevents it. That is the point of the story. Anu
and the other gods are satisfied, but Ea does not desire it, and
Ea's decision cannot be to the disadvantage of mankind, so
dearly beloved by him. With this conclusion humanity must
be content — and be resigned to the inevitable.
Of the various legends that we have been considering, the
story of Adapa is perhaps the most significant, and none the
less so for the manner in which a philosophical problem has
been grafted on to a nature-myth. Adapa is made to play the
role of Marduk, and it is nothing short of remarkable that at
so early a period as the one to which the existence of the story
can be traced back, a nature-myth should have been diverted
from its original purpose and adapted to the end that the
Adapa story serves in its present form. The process involved
in this adaptation is a complicated- one. The story serves as
an evidence of the intellectual activity displayed in the schools
of theological thought that must have flourished for many cen-
turies before a story like that of Adapa could have been pro-
duced out of a nature-myth. Hardly less remarkable is it that
the theologians and scribes of later times no longer understood
the story, for otherwise they would not have identified Adapa
with Marduk through the superficial circumstance that he is
introduced into the story instead of Marduk, or some other solar
deity allied to Marduk.
The Adapa legend takes us back to the beginning of man's
career — to the time when, as in the early chapters of Genesis,
man stood closer to the gods than at a later time, the time
when there was a constant intercourse between man and the
gods, and more especially between man and his protector, Ea.
The story forms part of a stock of traditions of which we have
MYTHS AND LEGENDS. 555
another specimen in the Eabani-Ukhat episode, incorporated in
the Gilgamesh epic.1 No doubt when the treasures still exist-
ing in the British Museum shall have been thoroughly examined
and as additional remains of the religious literature of the Baby-
lonians will be brought to light, we will find further traces of
these early traditions as well as of other myths. Those that we
have discussed in this and in the preceding chapters illustrate
the system adopted by the priests in elaborating these tradi-
tions and myths and in adapting them to serve as illustrations
of certain doctrines and beliefs. We may also feel tolerably
confident that the religious ideas conveyed through these vari-
ous epics and legends and myths fairly represent both the popular
and the advanced thought, as it unfolded itself in the course of
time. By the aid of these specimens of the religious literature,
we have been enabled to analyze the views of the Babylonians
regarding the creation of the world, its structure, and govern-
ment. We have obtained an insight into the problems of life
and death which engaged the Babylonian thinkers, and we have
noted some of the solutions offered for these problems. In a
consideration of the views held by the Babylonians and Assyr-
ians of the life after death, to which we now turn, it will again
be a specimen of the religious literature that will serve as our
main guide.
1 See pp. 476 seq. Sayce has even gone so far as to suggest an identification of
Adapa (by reading Adawa) with the Biblical Adam, but this conjecture is untenable.
CHAPTER XXV.
THE VIEWS OF LIFE AFTER DEATH.
THE problem of immortality, we have seen, engaged the
serious attention of the Babylonian theologians. While the
solutions they had to offer could hardly have been satisfactory
either to themselves or to the masses, it must not be supposed
that the denial of immortality to man involved the total extinc-
tion of conscious vitality. Neither the people nor the leaders
of religious thought ever faced the possibility of the total anni-
hilation of what once was called into existence. Death was
a passage to another kind of life, and the denial of immor-
tality merely emphasized the impossibility of escaping the
change in existence brought about by death. The gods alone
do not pass from one phase of existence to the other. Death
was mysterious, but not more mysterious than life. The
Babylonian religion does not transcend the stage of belief,
characteristic of primitive culture everywhere, which cannot
conceive of the possibility of life coming to an absolute end.
Life of some kind and in some form was always presupposed.
So far as man was concerned, created by some god, - — Bel, Ea,
Aruru, or Ishtar, according to the various traditions that were
current,1 — no divine fiat could wipe out what was endowed
with life and the power of reproduction.
No doubt, the impossibility for the individual to conceive of
himself as forever deprived of consciousness, was at the bottom
of the primitive theory of the perpetuity of existence in some
form. Among ancient religions, Buddhism alone frees itself
from this theory and unfolds a bold doctrine of the possibility
1 See above, p. 448.
THE VIEWS OF LIFE AFTER DEATH. 557
of a complete annihilation. The question, however, whether
the continuity of existence was a blessing or a curse was raised
by many ancient nations. The Babylonians are among these
who are inclined to take a gloomy view of the passage from
this world to the existence in store for humanity after death,
and the religious leaders were either powerless or disinclined
to controvert this view.
LOCATION AND NAMES OF THE GATHERING PLACE OF THE
DEAD.
We have already had occasion l to refer to the great cave
underneath the earth in which the dead were supposed to
dwell, and since the earth itself was regarded as a mountain,
the cave is pictured as a hollow within, or rather underneath, a
mountain. A conception of this kind must have arisen among
a people that was once familiar writh a mountainous district.
The settlers of the Euphrates Valley brought the belief with
them from an earlier mountain home. The cave, moreover,
points to cave-dwelling and to cave-burial as conditions that
prevailed at one time among the populace, precisely as the
imitation of the mountain with its caves in the case of the
Egyptian pyramids, is due to similar influences. To this cave
various names are assigned in the literature of the Babylo-
nians, — some of popular origin, others reflecting scholastic
views. The most common name is Aralu.2 We also find the
term ' house of Aralu.'3 The etymology of the term is obscure.
Aralu was pictured as a vast place, dark and gloomy. It is
sometimes called a land, sometimes a great house. The approach
to it was difficult. It lay in the lowest part of the mountain
1 See pp. 487, 489, 511, 512. 2 Or Arallu.
3 II R. 6 1 , 18. Jensen, Kosmologie, p. 220, takes this as the name of a temple ; but,
since Aralu was pictured as a ' great house,' there is no reason why the designation
should not refer to the nether world.
558 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
that represented the earth, not far from the hollow underneath
the mountain into which the ' Apsu ' flowed. Surrounded by
seven walls and strongly guarded, it was a place to which no
living person could go and from which no mortal could ever
depart after once entering it. To Aralu all went whose exist-
ence in this world had come to an end. Another name which
specifies the relationship of Aralu to the world is Ekur or
' mountain house ' of the dead. Ekur is one of the names for
the earth,1 but is applied more particularly to that part of the
mountain, also known as Kharsag2-kurkura, />., 'the mountain
of all lands ' where the gods were born. Before the later specu-
lative view was developed, according to which the gods, or
most of them, have their seats in heaven,3 it was on this moun-
tain also that the gods were supposed to dwell. Hence Ekur
became also one of the names for temple,4 as the seat of a god.
The dwelling of the dead was regarded as a part of the ' great
mountain.' It belonged to Ekur, and the fact that it was des-
ignated pimply as Ekur,5 is a valuable indication that the dead
were brought into close association with the gods. This asso-
ciation is also indicated by the later use of Aralu as the designa-
tion of the mountain within which the district of the dead, Aralu
proper, lay6 — synonymous, therefore, with Ekur. We shall
see in the course of this chapter that the dead are placed even
more than the living under the direct supervision of the gods.
A third name for the nether world which conveys an impor-
tant addition to the views held regarding the dead, was Shualu.
Jensen, it is true, following Bertin, questions the existence of
1 See the admirable argument in Jensen, Kosmologic, pp. 185-195.
2 Or, more fully, Kharsag-gal-kurkura, ' great mountain of all lands.'
3 See above, p. 458. 4 See the following chapter.
5 See the passages in Jeremias' Die Babylonisch-Assyrischen Vorstellun^en vom
Leben nach dem Todc, p. 62.
6 Sargon Annals, 1. 156. Jensen's interpretation of the passage (Kosmologie,
p. 231) is forced, as is also his explanation of IIR. 51, na, where a mountain
Aralu is clearly designated.
THE VIEWS OF LIFE AFTER DEATH. 559
this term in Babylonian,1 but one does not see how the evi-
dence of the passages in the lexicographical tablets can be set
aside in the way that he proposes. Zimmern 2 does not appear
to be convinced by Jensen's arguments and regards the ques-
tion as an open one. Jensen's method of disposing of Shualu,
besides being open to serious objections, fails to account for
the fact that Shualu is brought into association with various
Babylonian terms and ideographs for the grave.3 This cannot
be accidental. That the term has hitherto been found only in
lexicographical tablets need not surprise us. Aralu, too, is of
rare occurrence in the religious texts. The priests appear
to avoid the names for the nether world, which were of ill
omen, and preferred to describe the place by some epithet, as
1 land without return,' or ' dark dwelling,' or * great city,' and
the like. Of such descriptive terms we have a large number.4
The stem underlying Shualu signifies 'to ask.' Shualu is a
place of inquiry,5 and the inquiry meant is of the nature of a
religious oracle. The name, accordingly, is an indication of
the power accorded to the dead, to aid the living by furnishing
them with answers to questions, just as the gods furnish
oracles through the mediation of the priests.6 The Old Testa-
ment supplies us with an admirable illustration of the method
of obtaining oracles through the dead. Saul, when he desires
to know what the outcome of a battle is to be, seeks out a
sorceress, and through her calls up the dead Samuel7 and puts
1 Kosmologie, pp. 222-224.
2 Gunkel's Schopfung und Chaos, p. 154, note 5.
3 In an article on ' Shualu ' published in the American Journal of Semitic Lan-
guages (xiv.), I have set forth my reasons for accepting this word as a Babylonian
term for the nether world.
4 In the later portions of the Old Testament, the use of Sheol is also avoided.
See the passages in Schwally, Das Lcbcn nach dem Tode nacJi den Vorstellnngen
des Alien Israels, pp. 59, 60.
5 Not ' Ort der Entscheidung,' as Jeremias, ib. p. 109, proposes.
6 See above, p. 329.
7 1 Sam. xxviii. n.
560 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION,
the question to him. Similarly, in the Gilgamesh epic, the hero,
with the aid of Nergal, obtains a sight of Eabani1 and plies
him with questions. The belief, therefore, in this power of the
dead was common to Babylonians and Hebrews, and, no doubt,
was shared by other branches of the Semites. It is natural,
therefore, to find the Babylonian term Shualu paralleled by the
Hebrew Sheol, which is the common designation in the Old
Testament for the dwelling-place of the dead.2 How wide-
spread the custom was among Babylonians of inquiring ' through
the living of the dead ' 3 it is difficult, in default of satisfactory
evidence, to say. The growing power of the priests as medi-
ators between men and gods must have acted as a check to
such practices. The priests, as the inquirers,4 naturally pro-
ceeded direct to the particular god whose representative they
claimed to be, and the development of an elaborate ceremonial
in the temples in connection with the oracles5 was a further
factor that must have influenced the gradual abandonment of
the custom, at least as an element of the official cult. More-
over, the belief itself belongs in the domain of ancestor wor-
ship, and in historical times we find but little trace of such
worship among the Babylonians. We may, therefore, associate
the custom with the earliest period of the Babylonian religion.
This view carries with it the antiquity of the term Shualu.
Like Aralu and the designation Ekur, it embodies the close
association of the dead with the gods. The dead not only
dwell near the gods, but, like the gods, they can direct the
affairs of mankind. Their answers to questions put to them
have divine justification. From this view of the dead to the
1 See p. 511. 3 Isaiah, viii. 19'.
2 See Schwally, ib. pp. 59-63.
4 One of the names for the priest in Babylonia is Sha'ilu, i.e., ' inquirer,' and the
corresponding Hebrew word Sho'el is similarly used in a few passages of the Old
Testament ; e.g., Deut. xviii. n ; Micah, vii. 3. See an article by the writer on " The
Stem Sha'al and the Name of Samuel," in a forthcoming number of the Journal of
the Society of -Biblical Literature. 5 See above, pp. 333 seq.
THE VIEWS OF LIFE AFTER DEATH. 561
deification of the latter is but a short step. It does not, of
course, follow, from the fact that Shualu or Sheol is the place
of ' oracles,' that all the dead have the power to furnish oracles
or can be invoked for this purpose. Correspondingly, if we
find that the Babylonians did deify their dead, it does not mean
that at one time all the dead were regarded as gods. Popular
legends are concerned only with the heroes, with the popular
favorites — not with the great masses. Eabani, who appears
to Gilgamesh, is a hero, and so is Samuel. As a matter of fact,
we have so far only found evidence that the ancient rulers
whose memory lingered in the minds of the people were re-
garded by later generations as gods. So the names of Dungi
and Gudea l are written on tablets that belong to the centuries
immediately following their reign, with the determinative that
is placed before the names of gods. Festivals were celebrated
in honor of these kings, sacrifices were offered to them, and their
images were placed in temples.2 Again, Gimil-Sin (c. 2500 B.C.),
of the second dynasty of Ur, appears to have been deified
during his lifetime, and there was a temple in Lagash which
was named after him.3 No doubt other kings will be found
who were similarly honored. We may expect to come across a
god Hammurabi some day. Gilgamesh is, as we have seen, a
historical personage whose career has been so thoroughly amal-
gamated with nature-myths that he ends by becoming a solar
deity who is invoked in incantations.
The tendency to connect legendary and mythical incidents
with ancient rulers is part and parcel of this process of deifica-
tion. Of an ancient king, Sargon,4 a story was related how he
1 See p. 167.
2 See above, p. 167, and Scheil, Le Culte de Gndca, etc. (Rcciteil dcs Travaux,
xviii. 64 seg.)
3 Thureau-Dangin, Le Culle des Rois dans la pcriode Prcbabylonicnnc (Rccucil
des Travaux, etc., xix. 486).
4 See above, p. 36. The text is published II I R. pi. 4, no. 7. Recently, Mr.
Pinches has published a variant version of this story (Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch, xviii.
257, 258).
562 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
was exposed in a boat, and, 'knowing neither father nor mother,'
was found by a ferryman. The exploits of this king and of his
successor, Naram-Sin, were incorporated in an omen text1 —
a circumstance that again illustrates how the popular fancy
connected the heroes of the past with its religious interests.
Still, there is no more reason to question the historical reality
of Sargon 2 than to question the existence of Moses, because a
story of his early youth is narrated in Exodus 3 which forms a
curious parallel to the Sargon legend, or to question the exist-
ence of a personage by the name of Abraham, because an
Abrahamitic cult arose that continues to the present day.4
This close association of the dead with the gods, upon which
the deification of the dead rests, may be regarded as a legacy
of the earliest period of the Babylonian religion, of the time when
the intercourse between the gods and the living was also direct.
The belief and rites connected with the dead constitute the
most conservative elements in the religion of a people. The
organized cult affects the living chiefly. So far as the latter
are concerned, the rise of a priesthood to whom the religious
needs of the people are entrusted, removes the living from that
immediate contact with the gods which we note in the tradi-
tions of every people regarding the beginnings of mankind.
The priests have no power over the dead. The dead require
no * mediator.' Hence, those who dwell in Aralu return to the
early state of mankind when gods and mankind ' walked to-
gether.'
Another name that is of frequent occurrence in religious
texts is Kigallu, which describes the nether world as a district
1 IVR. 34.
2 In view of recent discussions of the subject, it is important to note that Tiele
already fifteen years ago recognized that Sargon was a historical personage. See his
remarks, Babyl. Assyr. Gesc/i., p. 112.
3 Chapter ii.
4 See Winterbotham, " The Cult of Father Abraham," in the Expositor, 1897, pp.
177-186.
THE I' I EM'S ()/•' L1EE AFTER DEATH. 563
of great extent, situated within the earth.1 The chief goddess
of the nether world is commonly known as the ' queen of
Kigallu.' Furthermore, Irkalla, which was interpreted by the
Babylonian theologians as 'great city' (or 'district'), is used
both as a designation for the dwelling-place of the dead and
for the consort of the queen of Aralu.2
Beside the names for the nether world above discussed, a
large number of epithets and metaphors are found in the reli-
gious texts. The place to which the dead go is called the
* dark dwelling,' 'the land from which there is no return,' ' house
of death,' 'the great city,' 'the deep land,' and, since Nergal,
the ruler of the lower world, was the patron of the city Cuthah 3
(or Kutu), the name Cuthah was also used as a designation for
Aralu. Lastly, it is interesting to note that in poetical usage
the words for ' grave ' 4 were also employed to describe the
nether world. The question raised by this metaphor as to the
relationship between the grave and the lower world can best
be discussed when we come to consider the funeral rites.5
THE CONDITION OF THE DEAD AND THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF
AN ESCAPE FROM ARALU.
Among the remains of Babylonian literature there is a re-
markable production, which furnishes us with an admirable view
of the fate in store for those who have left this world.6 The com-
position is based upon a nature-myth, symbolizing the change
of seasons. Ishtar, the great mother goddess, the goddess of
fertility who produces vegetation, is, as we saw in the Gilga-
1 See Jensen's Kosmologic, p. 215, and Meissner, Altbabylonischcs Prh>atrc<.Jit,
p. 21. The word is used for the foundation of a building, and is an indication,
therefore, of the great depth at which the nether world was placed.
2 See below, p. 567, and Jensen's Kosmologie, p. 259.
3 See pp. 65, 66. * Kabru and Gcgumi (' dark place').
5 See also below, pp. 566, 567. « Published IV Rawlinson (2d edition), pi. 31.
564 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
mesh epic,1 also the one who brings about the decline of
vegetation. The change in nature that takes place after the
summer solstice is passed and the crops have ripened was
variously interpreted. According to one, and, as it would
seem, the favorite, tradition, the goddess is represented as
herself destroying the solar deity, Tammuz, whom she had
chosen as a consort. Repentant and weeping, Ishtar passes
to the lower world in search of her youthful husband, — the
symbol of the sun on its approach to the summer solstice.
While Ishtar is in the lower world, all fertility ceases, in the
fields, as well as in the animal kingdom. At last Ishtar re-
appears, and nature is joyous once more. In the Semitic
Orient there are only two seasons : 2 winter, or the rainy
season, and summer, or the dry season. The myth was, there-
fore, a symbol of the great contrast that the two seasons pre-
sented to one another. Under various forms and numerous
disguises, we find the myth among several branches of the
Semites, as well as in Egypt and among Aryans who came into
contact with Semitic ideas.3 A festival celebrated in honor
of Tammuz by the Babylonians is one expression of many that
the myth received. The designation of the sixth month as
" the mission of Ishtar " 4 is another. This myth was adapted
by the theologians to illustrate the doctrines that were developed
regarding the kind of existence led by the dead. The literary
method adopted is the same that characterizes the elaboration
of the Adapa myth and of the myths incorporated into the Gil-
gamesh epic. The story forms the point of departure, but its
original purport is set aside to a greater or less degree, neces-
sary modifications are introduced, and the moral or lesson is
1 See p. 483.
2 The Old Testament recognizes only two seasons, summer and winter. See, e.g.,
Gen. viii. 22.
3 See the discussion in Robertson Smith's Religions of the Semites, pp. 391-394;
and also Farnall, The Cults of the Greek States, ii. 644-649.
* See above, p. 484.
THE 1'IEWS OF LIFE AFTER DEATH. 565
distinctly indicated. In the case of the production that we are
about to consider, the story of Ishtar's visit to the nether world
is told — perhaps by a priest — to a person who seeks consola-
tion. A dear relative has departed this life, and a survivor, — a
brother, apparently, — is anxious to know whether the dead will
ever come back again. The situation reminds one of Gilgamesh
seeking out Eabani,1 with this difference : that, whereas Gilga-
mesh, aided by Nergal, is accorded a sight of his friend, the or-
dinary mourner must content himself with the answer given to
him. But what Gilgamesh is not permitted to hear,2 the mourner
is told. A description is given him of how the dead fare in Aralu.
The problem, however, is somewhat different in the story of
the descent of Ishtar, from the one propounded in the twelfth
tablet of the Gilgamesh epic. The question uppermost in the
mind of the mourner is " Will the dead return ? " The condi-
tion of the dead, which is most prominent in Gilgamesh's mind,
is secondary. Both questions, however, are answered, and
both answers are hopelessly sad. The nether world is joyless.
Even the goddess Ishtar is badly treated upon entering it.
The place is synonymous with inactivity and decay ; and, though
the goddess returns, the conclusion drawn is that the exception
proves the inexorable rule. A goddess may escape, but mortals
are doomed to everlasting sojourn, or rather imprisonment, in the
r'ealm presided over by Allatu and her consort Nergal. The tale
begins with a description of the land to which Ishtar proceeds :
To the land whence there is no return, the land of darkness (?) 3
Ishtar, the daughter of Sin, turned her mind,
1 See above, p. 510.
2 I.e., according to one version (p. 511). Another version of this part of the Gil-
gamesh epic, which, however, is influenced by the tale of Ishtar's visit, is published in
Haupt's NimrodepoS) pp. 16—19. In this version Eabani gives Gilgamesh a descrip-
tion of Aralu, which tallies with the one found in the Ishtar tale.
8 Text defective. Jeremias' suggestion, " the land that thou knowest," misses the
point. The person addressed does not know the land. ' Decay ' is Schrader's
conjecture (Die Hollenfahrt der I star, p. 24). See Haupt's Nimrodcpos, pp. 17,
40, and Delitzsch's Assyr. Worterbuch, p. 321, note.
566 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
The daughter of Sin turned her mind ;
To the house of darkness, the dwelling of Irkalla,
To the house whence no one issues who has once entered it.
To the road from which there is no return, when once it has been trodden.
To the house whose inhabitants l are deprived of light.
The place where dust is their 2 nourishment, their food clay.
They3 have no light, dwelling in dense darkness.
And they are clothed like birds, in a garment of feathers;
Where over gate and bolt, dust is scattered.
Ishtar, it will be observed, is here called the daughter of the
moon-god, whereas in the Gilgamesh epic she appears as the
daughter of Anu, the god of heaven. Both designations reflect
the views developed in the schools, and prove that the story
has been produced under scholastic influences. The goddess
has her place in the heavens, in the planet bearing her name,
and the designation of this planet as the daughter of Sin
can only be understood in connection with the astronomical
system, in which the moon plays so prominent a role 4 and
becomes the father of all the great gods (except Shamash) who
constitute the lesser luminaries of the night.
Irkalla is one of the names 5 for a god of the nether world,
who is regarded as the associate of Allatu. The dwelling is
elsewhere spoken of as a ' great palace ' in which Allatu and
her consort Nergal have their thrones. A gloomier place
than the one described in these opening lines of the story
cannot well be imagined. The picture reflects the popular
views, and up to this point, the doctrines of the school are
in agreement with the early beliefs. The description of the
lower world is evidently suggested by the grave or the cave
in which the dead were laid. The reference to dust and clay
as the food of the dead shows that the doctrine taught in the
Gilgamesh epic,6 of man's being formed of clay and returning
1 Lit., ' the one who has entered it.' 4 See p. 461.
2 I.e., of the inhabitants. 5 See below, p. 591.
3 The inhabitants. 6 See pp. 502, 511.
THE VIEWS OF LIFE AFTEK DEATH. 567
to clay, was the common one. This view helps us to under-
stand how the words for grave came to be used as synonyms
for the nether world. The dead being placed below the earth,
they were actually conveyed within the realm of which Aralft
was a part, and since it became customary for the Babylonians
to bury their dead together, the cities of the dead that thus
arose could easily be imagined to constitute the kingdom pre-
sided over by Allatu and Nergal. At this point, however, the
speculations of the schools begin to diverge from the popular
notions. We may well question whether the Babylonian popu-
lace ever attempted to make clear to itself in what form the
dead continued their existence. It may be that the argu-
ment from dreams, as the basis for the primitive belief in the
continuation of life, in some form, after death has been too hard
pressed,1 but certainly the appearance of the dead in the dreams
of the living must have produced a profound impression, and
since the dead appeared in the same form that they had while
alive, the conclusion was natural that, even though the body
decayed, a vague outline remained that bore the same relation
to the corpus as the shadow to the figure casting it. Two re-
markable chapters in the Old Testament 2 illustrate this popu-
lar view prevailing in Babylonia, as to the condition of the dead
in the nether world. The prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel both
portray the dead as having the same form that they possessed
while alive. The kings have their crowns on their heads ; the
warriors lie with their swords girded about them. The dead
Eabani, it will be recalled, appears to Gilgamesh and is at once
recognized by the latter. What distinguishes the dead from the
living is their inactivity. They lie in Aralu without doing any-
thing. Everything there is in a state of neglect and decay. The
dead can speak, but the Babylonians probably believed, like the
1 Particularly by Herbert Spencer and his followers.
2 Isaiah, xiv. 9-20, and Ezekiel, xxxii. 18-31. In Isaiah, the Babylonian Aralu is
specifically described, while Ezekiel writes under the influence of Babylonian ideas.
568 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
Hebrews, that the dead talk in whispers, or chirp like birds.1
The dead are weak,2 and, therefore, unless others attend to their
needs, they suffer pangs of hunger, or must content themselves
with ' dust and clay ' as their food. Tender care during the
last moments of life was essential to comparative well-being in
Aralu.3 The person who goes to Aralu in sorrow and neglect
will continue sorrowful and neglected.
The theologians, while accepting these views in general,
passed beyond them in an important particular. They could
not reconcile the evident dissolution of the body with a continu-
ation of even a shadowy outline. When a man died, the
'spirit,' which, according to the animistic theory, lodged some-
where within the body and produced the manifestations of life,
sought for refuge in some other substance. The ease with
which birds moved from one place to another suggested these
beings as the ones in which the dislodged spirit found a home.
The Babylonian thinkers were not alone in developing the
view that the dead assumed the form of birds. Parallels to
the pictures of the dead in the story of Ishtar's descent may
be found in Egypt and elsewhere.4 But what is important for
our purposes is the consideration that, in Babylonia at least,
the view in question is not the popular one, but the result of
speculations about a problem that appeals only to those who
make the attempt, at least, to clarify their ideas regarding the
mystery of death. The next section of the story affords us a
picture of the entrance to Aralu :
When Ishtar arrived at the gate of the land without return,
She spoke to the watchman of the gate :
Ho ! watchman — open thy gate.
1 Isaiah, viii. 19.
2 The Hebrew word for 'the dead,' refaim, conveys this idea.
3 See p. 512.
* See Sara Y. Stevenson, " On Certain Symbols used in the Decoration of Some
Potsherds from Daphne and Naukratis " (Philadelphia, 1892), p. 8.
THE VIEWS OF LIFE AFTER DEATH. 569
Open thy gate that I may enter.
If thou dost not open the gate, if thou refusest me admission,
I will smash the door, break the bolt.
I will smash the threshold, force open the portals.
I will raise up the dead to eat the living
Until the dead outnumber the living.
The entrance to the nether world is strongly guarded. From
other sources we learn that there was a * spy ' - - perhaps iden-
tical with the watchman — stationed at the portal of the lower
world, who reports all happenings to the queen Allatu through
Namtar, the god (or spirit) of pestilence. The watchman is to
prevent the living from entering, and also the dead from
escaping.
The violence of Ishtar is an interesting touch in the narra-
tive. As a goddess, she resents any opposition to her desires.
Her anxiety to enter Aralu indicates that the original form of
the myth, which must have represented the descent as forced
and not voluntary, has been modified by the introduction of a
new factor, — the search for her dead consort, Tammuz. The
character of Ishtar as the goddess of war 1 may also have influ-
enced this portrayal of her rage. In her violence, she threatens
a conflict between the dead and the living. The former will
destroy2 the latter, as a victorious army butchers the hostile host.
The watchman endeavors to pacify the enraged Ishtar :
The watchman opened his mouth and spoke.
Spoke to the great Ishtar :
Hold, O mistress, do not destroy them.3
I will go and mention thy name to the queen Allatu.
Allatu is grieved upon hearing the news of Ishtar's arrival, for
Ishtar's disappearance from the world means death.
1 See above, p. 83.
2 ' Eating ' appears to be a metaphor for destruction in general.
3 The portals (?).
570 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
I must weep for the masters who forsake their consorts.
I must weep for the wives who are torn from their husbands' side.
For the children I must weep who are snatched away (?) before their time.
Go, watchman, open thy gate.
Deal with her according to the ancient laws.
The scene that follows embodies, again, views of the nether
world as developed in the schools. Corresponding to the seven
zones surrounding the earth,1 the nether world is pictured as
enclosed by seven gates. Through these Ishtar must pass,
before she is ushered into the presence of Allatu.
The watchman went and opened his gate.
Enter, O mistress, welcome in Cuthah.2
The great house 3 of the land without return greets thee.4
Through the first gate he led her, and boldly removed the great crown from
her head.
Why, O watchman, dost thou remove the great crown from my head?
Enter, O mistress, such are the laws of Allatu.
At the second gate, he removes the earrings of the goddess ;
at the third, her necklace is taken away, and, similarly, at each
succeeding gate, a portion of her dress, the ornaments on her
breast, her belt of precious stones, her bracelets, until, when
the seventh gate is reached, the covering over her loins is re-
moved, and she stands naked before Allatu. At each gate
Ishtar asks the same question, why the watchman strips her,
and the same answer is given.
The removal of one ornament after the other symbolizes,
evidently, the gradual decay of vegetation, not, as has been
supposed, that the dead enter Aralu naked.
Allatu calls upon her messenger, Namtar, to strike the
goddess with disease in all parts of her body. The disease
1 Jensen, fCosmologu, pp. 173 scq.
2 Here used as an epithet of the nether world. See above, p. 563.
3 Or ' palace.' The lower world, it will be recalled, is pictured as a house or a
country. Here the two terms are combined. See Delitzsch, Assyr. Worterbuch,
P- 34*-
4 The phrases used are the ordinary terms of greeting. See, e.g., VR. 65, i;b.
THE VIEWS OF LIFE AFTER DEATH. 571
expresses the same idea as the removal of the ornaments,—
decay of strength. There follows a description of the desola-
tion on earth during Ishtar's sojourn with Allatu. Productivity
comes to a standstill.
The ox does not mount the cow, the ass does not bend over the she-ass.
Among mankind, likewise, fertility ceases. The gods lament
the absence of Ishtar and the fate that overtook her. The
astronomical conception of Ishtar as the planet Venus, at this
point, is apparent. The gods complain.
Ishtar has descended to the earth, and has not come up.
As a planet, Ishtar's seat is in the heavens. The disappearance
of the planet has been combined with the nature-myth of the
decay of vegetation. As the evening star, Venus dips down
into the west, to reappear after a long interval in the east. The
astral character of Ishtar dominates the latter half of the story
in its present form. It is not the goddess of love and fertility
nor the goddess of war who is rescued from her prison by Ea,
but the planet Ishtar. Shamash is informed of the disaster
by his servant, Pap-sukal.1 The sun-god proceeds for aid to
Sin and Ea. The latter furnishes relief. The sun enters Ea's
domain every evening, and, since it is in the west that the
planet sinks like the sun, the association of ideas becomes
apparent which suggests Ea as the savior and the sun as the
mediator.
Ea created in his wisdom a male being.
He formed Uddushu-namir, a divine servant.
Go, Uddushu-namir, to the gate of the land without return, turn thy face.
The seven gates of the land without return will be opened before thee.
Allatu will see thee and welcome thee
After her heart is pacified, her spirit'2 brightened.
1 Gibil-Nusku may be meant. See the hymn, p. 278. Pap-sukal is a title of Nabu
(p. 130), but also of other gods.
2 Lit., ' liver.'
572 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
Invoke against her the name of the great gods.
Raise thy countenance, to Sukhal-ziku direct thy attention.
Come, mistress, grant me Sukhal-ziku, that I may drink l therefrom.
Ea appears here again in the role of Creator.2 The name of
the mysterious being created by Ea signifies ' renewal of light.'
The incident, it will be seen, is wholly symbolical. A touch of
mysticism has also been introduced. Sukhal-ziku is a com-
pound of a word meaning ' to sprinkle ' and another which may
mean * grotto.' 3 Sukhal-ziku appears, therefore, to be the name
for a mysterious fountain, the waters of which restore the dead
to life.
Uddushu-namir having pronounced the name of the gods
before Allatu, and haying thus secured their aid, his request is
in the nature of an order. But the request must not be inter-
preted literally, as though the waters were intended for him.
It is for the sake of Ishtar that he desires to have the use of
Sukhal-ziku. Allatu understands Uddushu-namir's speech in
this sense, and is enraged at the order to yield up Ishtar.
Allatu, upon hearing this,
Smote her sides and bit her finger.4
Thou hast demanded of me a request that should not be requested.
Come, Uddushu-namir, I will curse thee with a terrible curse.
Food from the gutters of the city be thy nourishment.
The sewers (?) of the city be thy drink.
The shadow of the wall be thy seat.
The threshold be thy dwelling.
Exile and banishment break thy strength.
The force of the curse lies in the closing words. Uddushu-
namir is to be an outcast. He will not be permitted to enter
1 For the translation of these lines see Jensen, Kosmologie, p. 233.
2 See above, p. 441.
3 So Jeremias' Vorstellungen, etc. ; see p. 39. Zikutu from the same stem means
a 'drinking bowl.'
4 A biting of the lips is elsewhere introduced as a figure. See the author's mono-
graph, " A Fragment of the Babylonian Dibbarra Epic," p. 14.
THE VIEWS OF LIFE AFTER DEATH. 573
either city or house, but must remain at the wall or stop at
the threshold. Properly prepared food and drink are to be
denied him. He shall starve or perish miserably.
But the mission of Uddushu-namir has been accomplished.
Allatu may curse as she pleases ; the order of Ea must be
obeyed.
The goddess Allatu opened her mouth and spoke.
To Namtar, her messenger, she addressed an order :
Go, Namtar, smash the true palace.1
Break down the threshold, destroy the door-posts (?) .
Bring out the Anunnaki and place them on golden thrones.
Besprinkle Ishtar with the waters of life and take her from me.
Namtar obeys the order. Ishtar is led through the seven
gates. At each one, the articles taken 'from her on her en-
trance are returned : at the first, the loin cloth ; at the second,
the bracelets and ankle rings, and so on, until she emerges in
her full beauty.
The close of the story thus brings to our gaze once more
Ishtar as goddess of fertility, who gradually brings vegetation,
strength, and productivity back again. This curious mixture in
the story of the astral Ishtar, — the creation of the astronomers,
— and the popular Ishtar, is a trait which shows how the old
nature-myth has been elaborated in passing through the hands
of the literati. The various steps in the process can still be
seen. In the original form, the goddess must have been forced
into an exile to the nether world, the exile symbolizing the
wintry season when fertility and productivity 2 come to an end.
Ishtar is stripped of her glory. She comes to Allatu, who
grieves at her approach, but imprisons her in the ' great house,'
1 See Delitzsch, Assyr. Worterbuch, p. 341.
2 So far as the domestic animals are concerned, it is true that they throw off their
young in the spring. The reference to a similar interruption in the case of mankind
(see above, p. 571) may embody the recollection of a period when a regular pairing
season and breeding time existed among mankind. See Westermarck, The History
of Human Marriage, pp. 27 seq.
574 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
and refuses to yield her up, until forced to do so by order of the
gods. A similar story must have been told of Tammuz, the
sun-god, who is also the god of vegetation. The two stories
were combined. Ishtar marries Tammuz, and then destroys
him. The goddess produces fertility, but cannot maintain it.
Tammuz goes to the nether world. Ishtar repents, bewails her
loss, and goes to seek for her consort and to rescue him. In
rage she advances to Allatu, threatens to smash the door and
break the lock unless admitted. The story in this form must
have ended in the restoration of Tammuz. The identification
of Ishtar with the planet Venus introduced a new factor. The
disappearance of the planet fitted in well with the original
nature-myth. The combination of the Ishtar-Tammuz story
with this factor resulted in the tale as we have it now. The
enraged Ishtar is the one who seeks for her consort. The Ish-
tar who is forced to give up her ornaments is the old goddess
who falls into the hands of Allatu. During her absence, pro-
duction comes to a standstill; decay sets in. The Ishtar who
is rescued by Ea through the mediation of the * Renewal of
Light ' is the astral Ishtar, as developed by the astronomers,
and, finally, the Ishtar who receives her ornaments back again
and comes to the upper world, is once more the goddess of
vegetation, rescued from her exile to new glory. Up to this
point, Tammuz has not been mentioned in the story. In the
advice, however, that is given at the conclusion of the tale to
mourners, the consort of Ishtar is introduced.
If she J will not grant her redemption,2 turn to her3 [thy countenance ? ]
To Tammuz, her youthful consort,
Pour out pure waters, costly oil [offer him?].
The mourners are furthermore instructed to institute a formal
lamentation. The Ukhati,4 the priestesses of Ishtar, are to
1 Allatu. 3 Ishtar.
y /.£., of the dead person. 4 See p. 475.
THE VIEWS OF LIFE AFTER DEATH. 575
sing dirges; flutes are to accompany the song. The thought
intended, apparently, to be conveyed is that if Allatu will not
give up the dead, the surviving relatives should endeavor to
secure the good grace of Ishtar and Tammuz, who succeeded
in subduing Allatu.
The closing lines are rendered obscure by a reference to the
goddess Belili, who appears to be the sister of Tammuz. The
reference assumes the knowledge of a tale in which the god-
dess was represented as breaking a costly vessel adorned with
precious stones, in sign of her grief for the lost Tammuz.
Suitable mourning for Tammuz, therefore, will secure the sym-
pathy of Belili also. The story thus ends with a warning to
all who mourn for their dead to remember Tammuz, to observe
the rites set aside for the festival celebrated in his honor.
Bearing in mind the tentative character of any interpretation
for the closing lines, we may mention Jeremias' * supposition
that it is a deceased sister who addresses her sorrowing brother
at the end of the story.
My only brother, let me not perish.
On the day of Tammuz, play for me on the flute of lapis lazuli, together
with the lyre 2 of pearl play for me.
Together let the professional dirge singers, male and female, play for me,
That the dead may arise and inhale the incense of offerings.
The lines impress one as snatches from a dirge, sung or
recited in memory of the dead, and introduced here as an
appropriate illustration of the conclusion to be drawn from the
tale. At all events, the consolation that the mourner receives
lies in this thought, — the dead can hear the lamentation.
The survivors are called upon not to forget the dead. When
the festival of Tammuz comes, let them combine with the
weeping for the god, a dirge in memory of the dead. Let
them pray to Ishtar and Tammuz. If remembered by the
1 Vorstdlungen, pp. 6-8. 2 Some instrument is mentioned.
576 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
living, the dead will at least enjoy the offerings made to them,
regain, as it were, a temporary sense of life ; but more cannot
with certainty be hoped for.
The outlook for the dead, it will be seen, is not hopeful.
Their condition is at best a tolerable one. What we may glean
from other sources but confirms the general impression, con-
veyed by the opening and closing lines of the Ishtar story, or
makes the picture a still gloomier one. The day of death is a
day of sorrow, ' the day without mercy.' The word for corpse
conveys the idea that things have 'come to an end.' When-
ever death is referred to in the literature, it is described as an
unmitigated evil. A dirge introduced into an impressive hymn
to Nergal l laments the fate of him who
. . . has descended to the breast of the earth,
Satiated,2 [he has gone] to the land of the dead.
Full of lament on the day that he encountered sorrow,
In the month which does not bring to completion the year,3
On the road of destruction for mankind,
To the wailing-place (?),
The hero [has gone], to the distant invisible land.
We must not be misled by an epithet bestowed upon several
gods, Marduk, Ninib, and Gula, of 'the restorer of the dead
to life,' into the belief that the dead could be brought back
from Aralu. These epithets appear chiefly in incantations and
hymns addressed to the gods for some specific purpose, such
as deliverance of a sufferer from disease. The gods are
appealed to against the demons, whose grasp means death.
Ninib and Gula are viewed as gods of healing.4 To be cured
through their aid was to be snatched from the jaws of death.
Moreover, Ninib and Marduk, as solar deities, symbolize the
sun of spring, which brings about the revivification of nature.
1 IVR. 30, no. 2, obverse 23-35.
2 The word is explained by a gloss, ' Shamash has made him great.'
3 /.£., the month in which one dies. 4 See p. 175.
THE VIEWS OF LIFE AFTER DEATH. 577
The return of vegetation suggests the thought that Ninib and
Marduk have filled with new life what appeared to be dead.
The trees that seemed entirely dead blossom forth ; the bare
earth is covered with verdure. Similarly, the suffering individual
stricken with disease could be awakened to new life. It is this
' restoration ' which lies in the power of the gods, but once a
man has been carried off to Aralu, no god can bring him back
to this earth.
An apparent exception to the rule, according to which all
mankind eventually comes to Aralu, is formed by Parnapishtim
and his wife, who dwell in a place vaguely described as
'distant,' situated at the 'confluence of the streams.' The
place, as was pointed out in a previous chapter,1 lies in the
vicinity of the Persian Gulf, and, since it can only be reached
by water, the natural conclusion is that it is an island. The
temptation is strong to compare the dwelling of Parnapishtim
with the belief found among the Greeks and other nations, of
'an island of the blessed.' This has been done by Jeremias2
and others. However, we must bear in mind that the point
in Parnapishtim's narrative is that he and his wife do not die.
They are removed to the distant place by the gods and con-
tinue to live there. Again, we do not learn of any other per-
son who inhabits this island. If to these considerations we
add, that the name Parnapishtim signifies ' offspring of life,'
that his wife's name is not mentioned, that we are not told
what becomes of his family and servants, who are also saved
from the deluge, it is evident that the incident of Parnapishtim's
escape is an allegory, introduced into the story as a dramatic
means of teaching the doctrine which we have seen dominates
the tale, — that man, ordinarily, cannot secure immortal life.
If there is any connection between the island where Parna-
pishtim dwells and the Greek conception of ' an island of the
blessed,' it is a trace of foreign influence in Babylonian mythol-
1 See pp. 505, 506. 2 Vorstellungen, p. 81.
578 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
ogy. There is nothing to show that among the Babylonians,
either among the populace or in the schools, a belief arose in
a ' paradise ' whither privileged persons were transported after
death, nor is any distinction made by them between the good
and the bad, so far as the future habitation is concerned. All
mankind, kings and subjects, virtuous and wicked, go to Aralu.
Those who have obtained the good will of the gods receive
their reward in this world, by a life of happiness and of good
health. The gods can ward off disease, or, rather, since disease
(as all ills and misfortunes) is a punishment sent by some god
or demon, forgiveness can be secured, the proof of which will
consist in the restoration of the sick to health, but the moment
that death ensues the control of the gods ends. To the Baby-
lonians, the words of the Psalmist,1 " who praises thee, O God,
in Sheol ? " came home with terrible force. They expressed,
admirably, the Babylonian view of the limitations of divine
power. The dead do not praise the gods, simply because it
would be useless. The concern of the gods is with the living.
We are fortunate in possessing a pictorial representation of
the nether world that confirms the view to be derived from a
study of the religious literature. A number of years ago, Cler-
mont-Ganneau directed attention to a remarkable bronze tablet
which was purchased at Hamath in northern Syria.2 The art
was clearly Babylonian, and there was no reason to question
the genuineness of the production. Quite recently a duplicate
has been found at Zurghul, in Babylonia,8 so that all suspicions
are removed. The bronze tablet contains on the one side, the
figure of a monster with a lion-like face and body, but provided
with huge wings. Standing erect, his head rises above the
tablet, his fore legs rest on the edge, and the demon is thus
1 Psalms, vi. 6.
2 L?Enfcr Assyrien (Revue Archaeologique, 1879, PP- 337'349)- See also Perrot
and Chipiez, History of Art in Chaldaea and Assyria, i. 349 seq.
3 Described by Scheil in the Recueil de Travaux, etc., xx. nos. i and 2. Scheil
regards the Zurghul duplicate as older than the other.
THE VIEWS OF LIFE AFTER DEATH. 579
represented in the attitude of looking over to the other side of
the tablet. At the side of the monster, are two heads of
hideous appearance.
The illustrations on the reverse are devoted to a portrayal
of a funeral ceremony, and of the general aspects of the nether
world. There are five distinct divisions,1 marked off from one
another by four heavy lines drawn across the tablet. In the
first division appear the symbols of the chief gods of the
Assyrian pantheon, Marduk, Nabu, Sin, Ishtar, Shamash, Ram-
man, etc.2 These gods, as inhabiting the heaven, are placed
at the head of the tablet. Next come seven evil spirits figured
as various animals,3 who, as inferior to the gods, and perhaps
also as messengers of the latter, are assigned a place midway
between heaven and earth. In the third section, there is pic-
tured the funeral ceremony proper. A dead body lies on a
couch. Two rather strange figures, but apparently priests,
have taken up a position, one at each end of the funeral bier,
performing some rite of purification. One of the priests has a
robe of fish scales and is bearded ; the other is smooth-faced
and clothed in a long garment. Censers are placed near the
priests. The latter appear at the same time to be protecting
the body against two demons whose threatening gestures sug-
gest that they are endeavoring to secure possession of the dead.4
These demons may be the special messengers of the gods of
the nether world, who have brought about the death of their
victim. Below this scene, we come to a view of the nether
world. The division is much larger than any of the others.
Two hideous figures dominate the scene, both of fantastic
1 Only four on the Zurghul duplicate.
2 For the interpretation of these symbols, see Luschan, Ansgrabiingcn in Send-
schirli, pp. 1 7-27, and Scheil's article. On the Zurghul tablet there are eight symbols,
while the other contains nine.
3 See pp. 263, 264. A text IVR. 5, col. i. compares each of the seven spirits to
some animal. On the duplicate six demons are placed in the second division and
the seventh in the third.
4 On the duplicate these two demons do not occur.
580 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
shape, and evidently so portrayed as to suggest the horror of
the nether world. One of these figures l stands erect in a
menacing attitude ; the other is resting in a kneeling position
on a horse.2 The second figure is a representation of the chief
goddess of the nether world — Allatu. The demon at her side
would then be the special messenger of this goddess, Namtar.
The goddess has her two arms extended, in the act of stran-
gling a serpent. The act symbolizes her strength. Her face is
that of a lioness, and she is suckling two young lions at her
breasts. If it be recalled that Nergal, the chief god of the
lower world, is also pictured as a lion,3 it seems but natural
to conclude that the monster covering the one side of the
tablet is none other than the consort of Allatu, the heads on
either side of him representing his attendants. At the left side
of Allatu are a series of objects, — a jar, bowl, an arrowhead (?),
a trident, which, as being buried with the dead, are symbols of
the grave. The goddess and the demon at her side direct
their gaze towards these objects.
The nether world reaches down to the Apsu, — the 'deep' that
flows underneath the earth. This is indicated in the design
by placing the horse, on which the goddess rests, in a bark.
The bark, again, is of fantastic shape, the one end terminating
in the head of a serpent, the other in that of some other animal,
— perhaps a bull. The bark reaches into the fifth division,4
which is a picture of flowing water with fish swimming from the
left to the right, as an indication of the direction in which the
water flows. At the verge of the water stand two trees.5 What
these trees symbolize is not known, and there are other details
in the third and fourth sections that still escape us. For our
purposes, it is sufficient to note : (a) that the sections represent
in a general way the divisions of the universe, the heavens, the
*
1 Scheil thinks that the face is that of a dog.
2 On the Zurghul duplicate the horse is not pictured. 3 See p. 529.
4 This division is not marked in the duplicate from Zurghul.
5 Not occurring on the duplicate.
THE VIEWS OF LIFE AFTER DEATH. 581
atmosphere, the earth, the nether world, and the deep ; l (//)
that the nether world is in the interior of the earth, reaching
down to Apsu; and (V) that this interior is pictured as a place
full of horrors, and is presided over by gods and demons of
great strength and fierceness.
Such being the view of the nether world, it is natural that
the living should regard with dread, not only the place but also
its inhabitants. The gloom that surrounded the latter reacted
on their disposition. In general, the dead were not favorably
disposed towards the living, and they were inclined to use what
power they had to work evil rather than for good. In this
respect they resembled the demons, and it is noticeable that an
important class of demons was known by the name ekimmu, which
is one of the common terms for the shades of the dead. This
fear of the dead, which is the natural corollary to the reverence
felt for them, enters as an important factor in the honors paid
by the living to the memory of the deceased. To provide the
dead with food and drink, to recall their virtues in dirges, to
bring sacrifices in their honor, — such rites were practised,
as much from a desire to secure the favor of the dead and to
ward off their evil designs as from motives of piety, which, of
course, were not absent. The dead who was not properly
cared for by his surviving relatives would take his revenge upon
the living by plaguing them as only a demon could. The
demons that infested graveyards were in some way identified
with the ' spirits,' or perhaps messengers, of the dead, who, in
their anger towards the living, lay in wait for an attack upon
those against whom they had a grudge.
1 Scheil questions whether the divisions have this purpose. While perhaps not
much stress is laid by the artist upon this symbolism, its existence can hardly be
questioned. Note the five divisions of the universe in Smith's Miscellaneous Texts,
p. 16. The water certainly represents the Apsu. Allatu rests upon the bark. We
do not find among the Babylonians (as Scheil supposes) the view that the dead are
conveyed across a sheet of water to the nether world. The dead are buried, and by
virtue of this fact enter Aralu, which is in the earth. Egyptian influence is possible,
but unlikely.
582 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
THE PANTHEON OF ARALU.
We have seen how the mystery coupled with death led to
the view which brought the dead into more direct relationship
with the gods. Closely allied with this view is the power
ascribed to the dead to work evil or good and, like the gods,
to furnish oracles. This power once acknowledged, it was but
a short step to the deification of the dead, or, rather, of such
personalities who in life exercised authority, by virtue of their
position or innate qualities. On the other hand, the gloominess
of the nether world, the sad condition of its inhabitants, the
impossibility of an escape or a return to this world, necessarily
suggested to the Babylonians that the gods worshipped by the
living had no control over the fate of the dead. The gods, to
be sure, were at times wrathful, but, on the whole, they were
well disposed towards mankind. When angry, they could be
pacified, and it was impossible to believe that they should
deliberately consign their creatures to such a sad lot as
awaited those who went down to Aralu. The gods who ruled
the dead must be different from those who directed the fate of
the living. A special pantheon for the nether world was thus
developed. Such deities as Marduk, Ea, Nabu, Shamash, or
Ashur, who acted, each in his way, as protectors of mankind,
could find no place in this pantheon ; but a god like Nergal,
who symbolized the midday sun, and the sun of the summer
solstice that brought misery and fever to the inhabitants of the
Euphrates Valley; Nergal, who became the god of violent
destruction in general, and, more particularly, the god of war,
the god whose emblem was the lion, who was cruel and of for-
bidding aspect, — such a god was admirably adapted to rule
those who could only look forward to a miserable imprisonment
in a region filled with horror. Nergal, therefore, became the
chief god of the pantheon of the lower world.
THE VIEWS OF LIFE AFTER DEATH. 583
In the religious texts, the cruel aspects of this god are almost
exclusively emphasized. He is the one god towards whom no
love is felt, for he is a god without mercy. The fierce aspects
of the solar Nergal are accentuated in Nergal, the chief of the
pantheon of Aralu. He becomes even more ferocious than he
already was, as a god of war. His battle is with all mankind.
He is greedy for victims to be forever enclosed in his great
and gloomy domain. Destruction is his one and single object ;
nothing can withstand his attack. Armed with a sword, his
favorite time for stalking about is at night, when he strikes his
unerring blows. Horrible demons of pestilence and of all
manner of disease constitute his train, who are sent out by
him on missions of death. The favorite titles by which he is
known appear in a hymn l addressed to him, as god of the
lower world. He is invoked as the
Warrior, strong whirlwind, sweeping the hostile land,2
Warrior, ruler of Aralu.
Another hymn 3 describes him as a
Great warrior who is firm as the earth.
Superior as heaven and earth art thou,
What is there in the deep that thou dost not secure?
What is there in the deep that thou dost not clutch ?
While references to the local character of the god as patron
of Cuthah survive, the name Cuthah itself becomes synonymous
with the nether world. The old solar deity is completely over-
shadowed by the terrible ruler of the lower world. It is due to
this that the real consort of the local Nergal, the goddess Laz,
is not mentioned in the religious literature. The priests, when
they spoke of Nergal, had in mind always the companionship with
Allatu. But the association of ideas which thus led to assign-
1 IVR. 26, no. i. 3 IVR. 30, no. i ; obverse 5, 14.
2 /.£., the nether world.
584 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
ing a god who was originally a solar deity, a place in the lower
world bears the impress of the schools. The popular develop-
ment of Nergal ceased, when he became the local god of Cuthah.
It is only as an outgrowth of the systematized pantheon that
we can understand the transformation involved in making of a
local deity, the head of a pantheon that is itself an outcome of
the later phases assumed by the religion.
The problem suggested by this transformation was recognized
by the theologians. A curious tale was found among the El-
Amarna tablets which endeavors to account for Nergal's pres-
ence in the world of the dead. Unfortunately, the tablet on
which the story is inscribed is so badly mutilated that we can
hardly gather more than the general outlines.1 A conflict has
arisen between the gods on high and a goddess who has her
seat in the lower world. This goddess is none other than
Allatu. She is described as Eresh-Kigal,2 />., queen of Kigal
or of the nether world. The scene reminds us of the contest
between the gods and Tiamat, as embodied in the creation epic.
The gods choose Nergal as their leader. Assisted by fourteen
companions, whose names — 'fever,' 'fiery heart,' 'lightning
sender ' — remind us again of the eleven monsters that constitute
Tiamat's assistants,3 Nergal proceeds to the lower world, and
knocks at the gate for admission. Namtar, the plague-demon,
acts as the messenger. He announces the arrival of Nergal to
Allatu. The latter is obliged to admit Nergal, just as in the story
of Ishtar's descent, she is forced to receive Ishtar. Fourteen
gates of the lower world are mentioned. At each one, Nergal
stations one of his companions and passes on to the house of
1 See Jensen's valuable articles, " The Queen in the Babylonian Hades and her
Consort," in the Sunday School Times, March 13 and 20, 1897. The text is pub-
lished, Winckler and Abel, Der Thontafelfnnd von El-Amarna, iii. 164, 165.
2 Written phonetically e-ri-ish. The word is entered as a synonym of sharratitm,
' queen,' VR. 28, no. 2 ; obverse 31. This phonetic writing furnishes the reading for
Nin in Nin-Kigal.
3 See pp. 418, 419.
THE VIEWS OF LIFE AFTER DEATH. 585
Allatu. He seizes the goddess, drags her from her throne, and
is about to kill her when she appeals for mercy. She breaks
out in tears, offers herself in marriage if Nergal will spare her.
You shall be my husband and I will be your wife.
The tablets of wisdom I will lay in your hands.
You shall be master and I mistress.
Nergal accepts the condition, kisses Allatu, and wipes away
her tears.
One cannot resist the conclusion that the tale is, as already
suggested, an imitation of the Marduk-Tiamat episode. Allatu is
a female like Tiamat. Nergal acts for the gods just as Marduk
does. The attendants of Nergal are suggested by the monsters
accompanying Tiamat ; the tables of wisdom which Nergal re-
ceives, correspond to the tablets of fate which Marduk snatches
from Kingu.1 But while the conflict between Marduk and
Tiamat is an intelligible nature-myth, symbolizing the annual
rainstorms that sweep over Babylonia, there is no such interpre-
tation possible in the contest between Nergal and Allatu. The
story is not even a glorification of a local deity, for Nergal
appears solely in the role of a solar deity. The attendants
given to him — heat, lightning, and disease — are the popular
traits in the story ; but with the chief characters in the old
nature-myth changed, — Marduk or the original Bel replaced
by Nergal, and Tiamat by Allatu, — the story loses its popular
aspect, and becomes a medium for illustrating a doctrine of the
schools. If this view of the tale be correct, we would incident-
ally have a proof (for which there is other evidence) that as
early as the fifteenth century, the Marduk-Tiamat story had
already received a definite shape. But the most valuable con-
clusion to be drawn from the Nergal- Allatu tale is that, accord-
ing to the popular conceptions, the real and older head of the
pantheon of the lower world was a goddess, and not a god.
1 See p. 428.
586 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
Allatu takes precedence of Nergal. In the story of Ishtar's
descent to the lower world, a trace of the earlier view survives.
Allatu is introduced as the ruler of the lower world. Nergal
plays no part. Viewed in this light, the design of the tale we
have just discussed becomes still more evident. It was incon-
sistent with the prominence assigned to male deities in the
systematized pantheon, that the chief deity of the lower world
should be a female. Allatu could not be set aside, for the
belief in her power was too strongly imbedded in the popular
mind ; but a male consort could be given her who might rule
with her. Another factor that may have entered into play in
the adaptation of the Marduk-Tiamat story to Nergal and
Allatu, and that gave to the adaptation more plausibility, was
the disappearance of the summer sun after he had done his
work. Nergal did not exert his power during the whole year,
and even as the sun of midday, he was not in control all day.
When he disappeared, there was only one place to which he
could go.
As of Tammuz and of other solar deities,1 it was probably
related of Nergal, also, that he was carried to the lower world.
This popular basis for the presence of Nergal in the lower
world may have served as a point of departure for the scholas-
tic development of Nergal. However, the tale of Nergal and
Allatu goes far beyond the length of popular belief in making
Nergal conquer Allatu, and force himself, in a measure, into
her place. Before Nergal appears on the scene, a god, Nin-
azu, was regarded as the consort of Allatu.2
The conception which gives the Babylonian Hades a queen
as ruler is of popular origin, in contrast to the scholastic aspect
of Nergal as the later king of the lower region. Jensen is of
the opinion that the feminine gender of the word for earth in
Babylonian superinduced the belief that the ruler of the kingdom
1 See below, p. 5
2 See below, p. 590
THE VIEWS OF LIFE AFTER DEATH. 587
situated within the earth was a woman. Allatu would, accord-
ing to this view, be a personification of the ' earth.' But a factor
that also enters into play is the notion of productivity and fer-
tility which gave rise to the conception of the great mother-
goddess, Ishtar.1 Allatu is correlated to Ishtar. From the
earth comes vegetation. The origin of mankind, too, is traced
to the earth, and to the earth mankind ultimately returns.2
Hence, the receiver of life is a goddess equally with the giver of
life, and indeed, Ishtar and Allatu are but the two aspects of one
and the same phenomenon.3 Allatu signifies ' strength.' The
name is related to the Arabic Allah and the Hebrew Eloah and
Elohim. The same meaning — strength, power, rule — attaches
to many of the names of the gods of the Semites : Adon, Etana,
Baal, El, and the like.4 It is interesting to note that the chief
goddess of Arabia is Allat? — a name identical with our Allatu.
The bronze relief above described furnished us with a pic-
ture of this queen of the lower world. The gloom enveloping
the region controls this picture. Allatu is of as forbidding an
aspect as Tiamat. She is warlike and ferocious. When en-
raged, her anger knows no bounds. Her chief attendants are
the terrible Namtar and a scribe — also a female — known as
Belit-seri. Of these two personages, Namtar, the personifica-
tion of disease, is a popular conception, whereas the addition
of a scribe points again to the influence of the schools. Mar-
duk, the chief god of the living, has a scribe who writes down,
at the god's dictation, the fate decreed for individuals. Corre-
sponding to this, the ruler of the lower world has a scribe who
writes down on the tablets of wisdom the decrees of the god-
1 See above, p. 79.
2 See pp. 448, 511.
3 See Farnell, The Cults of the Greek States, ii. 627.
4 See the reference in note 3 to p. 519.
•r> \Vellhausen, Reste Arabischcn Hcidenthums, pp. 28, 29. That the Syro-Ara-
bian A Hat resembles Ishtar rather than Allatu, points again to the original identity
of the two goddesses.
588 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
dess, and, at a later stage, the decrees of Nergal as well. Belit-
seri, whose name signifies ' mistress of the field,' was originally
a goddess of vegetation, some local deity who has been reduced
to the rank of an attendant upon a greater one ; and it is sig-
nificant that almost all the members of the nether-world pan-
theon are in some way connected with vegetation.
Tammuz, of whose position in this pantheon we have
already had occasion to speak, is the god of spring vegetation.
Another solar deity, Nin-gishzida,1 who is associated in the
Adapa legend with Tammuz, is the deity who presides over
the growth of trees. En-meshara, who also belongs to the
court of Nergal and Allatu, appears to represent vegetation
in general. To these may be added Girra (or Gira), who orig-
inally, as it would appear, a -god of vegetation, is eventually
identified with Dibbarra,2 Gil, whom Jensen 3 regards as 'the god
of foliage,' and Belili, the sister of Tammuz.4 Of this group of
deities, Tammuz and Nin-gishzida are the most important. In
the Adapa legend, it will be recalled, they are stationed as
guardians in heaven. As solar deities, they properly belong
there. Like Nergal, they have been transferred to the nether
world ; and in the case of all three, the process that led to the
change appears to have been the same. The trees blossom,
bear fruit, and then decay ; the fields are clothed in glory, and
then shorn of their strength. The decay of vegetation was
popularly figured as due to the weakness5 of the god who
produced the fertility. Tammuz has been deceived by Ishtar ;
Nin-gishzida has been carried off to the lower world. In the
month of Tebet, — the tenth month, — there was celebrated a
festival of mourning for the lost En-meshara. It is the time of
the winter solstice. A similar fate must have overtaken Belit-
1 See p. 546 seq. 4 See p. 574.
2 See below, p. 594, note i, and Jensen;s Kosmologie, pp. 145, 480, 483, 487.
3 Sunday ScJwol Times, 1897, p. 139.
6 See Frazer, The Golden Bough, i. 240 seq. and 274, 275.
THE VIEWS OF LIFE AFTER DEATH. 589
seri, Girra, and Gil. For a time, at least, they are hidden in the
realm of Allatu. Of all these deities, stories were no doubt
current that formed so many variations of one and the same
theme, symbolizing their disappearance and the hoped-for return,
the same story that we encounter in the myth of Venus and
Adonis, in the myth of Osiris, and, in some guise or other, among
many other nations of the ancient world. Of Girra, it may be
well to remember that he is viewed merely as a form of Nergal
in the later texts. Belili, it will be recalled, is associated with
Tammuz in the story of Ishtar's journey.1 She is not, how-
ever, the consort of the god, but his sister. The antiquity of
her cult follows from the occurrence of her name in the list of
gods antecedent to Anu,2 and where Alala is entered as her
consort. Whatever else the relationship of ' sister ' to Tam-
muz means, it certainly indicates that Belili belongs to the
deities of vegetation, and it may be that she will turn out to be
identical with Belit-seri, which is merely the designation of
some goddess, and not a real name.3 One is inclined also to
suspect some, albeit remote, connection between Alala, the
consort of Belili, and the Alallu bird who is spoken of in the
Gilgamesh epic as having been deprived of her pinions by Ish-
tar.4 In the tale, Tammuz, the Alallu bird, a lion, and a horse
are successively introduced as those once loved and then de-
ceived by Ishtar. The lion is, as has been several times indi-
cated, the symbol of Nergal ; the horse appears in the Hades
relief above described as the animal upon which Allatu is seated,
and it seems legitimate, therefore, to seek for Alallu also in the
i See p. 574. 2 See p. 417.
8 Cheyne (Expository Times, 1897, pp. 423, 424) ingeniously regards Belili as the
source of the Hebrew word Beliyaal or Belial, which, by a species of popular ety-
mology, is written by the ancient Hebrew scholars as though compounded of two
Hebrew words signifying ' without return.' The popular etymology is valuable as
confirming the proposition to place Belili in the pantheon of the lower world. From
its original meaning, the word became a poetical term in Hebrew for ' worthless,'
' useless,' and the like, e.g., in the well-known phrase " Sons of Belial."
4 See p. 482.
590 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
nether world. While it may be that a long process intervened,
before such a species of symbolization was brought about as
the representation of an ancient deity in the guise of a bird,
still, if it will be recalled that Zu is a deity, pictured as a bird,1
there is every reason to interpret the bird Alallu merely as the
symbol of some deity, just as the lion is certainly such a symbol.
Jensen would add Etana to the list of gods of vegetation
who form part of Allatu's court. While the etymology he pro-
poses for the name is not acceptable, there is no doubt that to
Etana, like Gilgamesh, the character of a solar deity has been
imparted. His presence in the nether world is due to the story
of his flight with the eagle and the fall.2 If he falls from
heaven, he naturally enters the realm of Allatu, and it is possi-
ble that the story in its original form was suggested by a myth
illustrating the change of seasons. The question, however,
must for the present remain an open one.
A god associated with the nether world who again appears
to be a solar deity is Nin-azu. His name points to his being
'the god of healing.' A text states3 that Allatu is his con-
sort. Such a relationship to the chief goddess of the nether
world may be regarded as a survival of the period when Nergal
had not yet been assigned to this place. The introduction of
a distinctly beneficent god into the pantheon of the lower world,
and as second in rank, shows also that the gloomy concep-
tion of the lower world was one that developed gradually.
Tammuz, Nin-gishzida, and the like are held enthralled by
Allatu, and remain in the nether world against their will ; but
if Allatu chooses as her consort a 'god of healing,' she must
have been viewed as a goddess who could at times, at least, be
actuated by kindly motives. The phase of the sun symbolized
by Nin-azu is, as in the case of Tammuz and others, the sun
of the springtime and of the morning. If it be recalled that
1 See p. 537. 3 II R. 59; reverse 33-35.
2 See above, p. 523.
Tin-: VIEWS OF /.//••/«; AVTEK DKATII. 591
Gula, the great goddess of healing, is the consort of Ninib,1 it
will be clear that Nin-azu must be closely related to Ninib —
and is, indeed, identified with the latter.2 With Nergal in con-
trol, Nin-azu had to yield his privilege to be the husband of
Allatu. The substitute of the fierce sun of the summer sol-
stice for the sun of spring is a most interesting symptom of the
direction taken by the Babylonian beliefs, regarding the fate
of the dead. It may be that in the earlier period, when more
optimistic views of Aralu were current, Gula, who is called the
one ' who restores the dead to life,' may have had a place in
the pantheon of the lower world ; not that the Babylonians at
any time believed in the return of the dead, but because the
living could be saved from the clutches of death. Ninib and
Gula, as gods of spring, furnished the spectacle of such a
miracle in the return of vegetation. In this sense, we have
seen that Marduk, the god of spring, was also addressed as
' the restorer to life.' But while the revivification of nature con-
trols the conception of gods of healing, like Nin-azu, Ninib,
and Gula, the extension of the idea would lead, naturally, to
the association of these gods with the ruler of the nether world,
at a time when it was still believed that this ruler could be
moved by appeals to loosen her hold upon those whom she was
about to drag to her kingdom. But it is important always to
bear in mind that beyond this apparent restoration of the dead
to life, the Babylonians at no time went.
In the Ishtar story 3 a god Irkalla is introduced. Jeremias 4
takes this as one of the names of Allatu, but this is unlikely.5
From other sources G we know that Irkalla is one of the names
1 See above, p. 175.
2 IIR. 57, 5ia, a star, Nin-azu, is entered as one of the names of the planet Ninib.
3 See above, p. 565. The name occurs also in Haupt's Nimrodcfos, pp. 19, 29.
* Vorstellungen, p. 68.
5 The name of the goddess is written throughout the story Nin-Kigal; i.e.,
'queen of the nether world.' Nin-Eresh. See p. 584, note 2.
6 Smith, Miscellaneous Texts, p. 16.
592 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
of the nether world. It is in some way connected with Uru-
gal,1 i.e., ' great city,' which is also a common designation for
the dwelling-place of the dead. Hence, Irkalla is an epithet
describing a deity as ' the god of the great city.' The Baby-
lonian scholars, who were fond of plays upon words, brought
the name Nergal, as though compounded of Ne-uru-gal (i.e.,
1 ruler of the great city '), into connection with Uru-gal, and
thus identified Irkalla with Nergal. But, originally, some other
god must have been meant, since Allatu appears as the sole
ruler of the lower world in the Ishtar story, unless, indeed, we
are to assume that the name has been introduced at a late period
as a concession to Nergal. It is more plausible that a god like
Nin-azu was understood under 'the god of the great city.'
Besides these gods, there is another series of beings who belong
to Allatu's court, — the demons who are directly responsible for
death in the world. Of this series, Namtar is the chief and the
representative. As the one who gathers in the living to the dark
abode, it is natural that he should be pictured as guardian at
the gates of the great palace of Allatu. But by the side of
Namtar stand a large number of demons, whose task is similar
to that of their chief. A text2 calls the entire group of
demons, — the demon of wasting disease, the demon of fever,
the demon of erysipelas,3 and the like,- — 'the offspring of
Aralu,' 'the sons and messengers of Namtar, the bearers of
destruction for Allatu.' These demons are sent out from Aralu
to plague the living, but once they have brought their victims
to Aralu, their task is done. They do not trouble the dead.
The latter stand, as we have seen, under the direct control of
the gods.4
The story of Ishtar's descent to the lower world 5 shows us
that the group of spirits known as the Anunnaki, also, belong to
1 Jensen, Kosmologie, p. 259, note. 4 See above, pp. 183, 560.
2 IV R. i, col. i. 12 ; col. iii. S-io. 5 Obverse 11. 33, 37.
3 Te'u. See 1VR. 22, 51 a, and Bartels, Zeitschrift fur Assyriologie,\\\\. 179-184.
THE VIEWS OF LIFE AFTER HEATH. 593
the court of Nergal and Allatu. Ramman-nirari I. already desig.
nates the Anunnaki as belonging to the earth,1 though it is an
indication of the vagueness of the notions connected with the
group that in hymns, both the Anunnaki and the Igigi are desig-
nated as offspring of Anu, — the god of heaven.2 They are
not exclusively at the service of Nergal and Allatu. Bel,
Ninib, Marduk, and Ishtar also send them out on missions.
Evidently, the fact that their chief function was to injure man-
kind suggested the doctrine which gave them a place in the
lower world with the demons. The distinction between Anun-
naki and the Igigi is not sharply maintained in the religious
literature. Though Ramman-nirari places the Igigi in heaven,
it is not impossible that a later view transferred them, like the
Anunnaki, to the lower world. There were, of course, some
misfortunes that were sent against mankind from on high-
Ramman was a god who required such messengers as the
Igigi, and besides the Igigi, there were other spirits sent out from
above. But, as in the course of time the general doctrine was
developed which made the gods, on the whole, favorably in-
clined towards man, while the evil was ascribed to the demons3
— as occupying the lower rank of divine beings — we note the
tendency also to ascribe the ills that humanity is heir to, to the
forces that dwell under the earth, — to Nergal and Allatu and
to those'who did their bidding. Probably, Lakhmu and Lak-
hamu were also regarded, at least by the theologians, as part of
Allatu's court, just as Alala and Belili4 were so regarded.
The confusion resulting from the double position of Nergal
in the religious literature, as the deity of the summer sol-
stice and as the chief of the nether-world pantheon, raises a
doubt whether some gods who are closely associated with
Nergal are to be placed on high with the gods or have their
seats below with Nergal. Among these, three require mention
here : Dibbarra, Gibil, and Ishum. Of these, the first two
l See above, p. 185. 2 See p. 1 86. « See p. 183. 4 See pp. 417, 598.
594 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
are directly identified with Nergal in the systematized pan-
theon,1 while Ishum is closely associated with Nergal, or
appears as the attendant of Dibbarra.2 These gods, symbolizing
violent destruction through war and fire, are evidently related
to the Nergal of the upper world, — to Nergal, the solar deity ;
but in the later stages of the religion, the Nergal of the lower
world almost completely sets aside the earlier conception. It
is, therefore, likely that deities who stand so close to the terrible
god as those under consideration, were also regarded as having
a position near his throne in the lower world.
The pantheon of Aralu thus assumes considerable dimen-
sions. At the same time, we observe the same tendency
towards concentration of power in this pantheon as we have
seen was the case in the pantheon of the upper world.3 As in
Babylonia there are practically only a few gods, — Marduk,
Nabu, Ishtar, Shamash, and Sin, — who exercised considerable
control ; and, as in Assyria we find this tendency still more
accentuated in the supreme rank accorded to Ashur, so in the
lower world Nergal and Allatu are the real rulers. The other
gods, and, naturally, also the demons, occupy inferior posi-
tions. As messengers, guardians, spies, or attendants, they
group themselves around the throne of the two rulers. A
noticeable feature, however, in the pantheon of the lower
world consists in the high position held by the consort of the
head of the pantheon. Allatu does not sink to the insignificant
rank of being merely a pale reflection of Nergal, as do the
consorts of Marduk, Shamash, Ashur, and the like.4 As a
trace of the earlier supreme control exercised by her, she con-
1 Jensen's Kosmologie, pp. 483, 484. In the new fragment of the Deluge story dis-
covered by Scheil (referred to above, p. 507, and now published in the Recucd dc
Travaux, xix. no. 3) the word di-ib-ba-ra occurs, and the context shows that it means
'destruction.' In view of this, the question is again opened as to the reading of the
name of the god of war and pestilence. The identification of this god with Girra
(pp. 528, 588) may belong to a late period. 3 See pp. in, 171, 190.
2 See p. 529. 4 See chapter v.
THE VIEWS OF LIFE AFTER DEATH. 595
tinues to reign with her husband. In the popular mind, indeed,
despite the influence of theological doctrines, Allatu continues
to be more prominent than Nergal. Nergal is obliged to abide
by the compact he made with Allatu. He rules with her, but
not over her. The theology of the schools did not venture to
set Allatu aside altogether ; and this limitation in the develop-
ment of the doctrine that elsewhere gave the male principle
the supremacy over the female, may be taken as a valuable
indication of the counter-influence, exercised by deeply rooted
popular beliefs, over the theoretical elaboration of the religion
at the hands of the religious guides.
THE TOMBS AND THE BURIAL CUSTOMS.
Our knowledge of the customs observed by the Babylo-
nians and Assyrians in disposing of their dead leaves much
to be desired. Most of the graves discovered in the ruins of
Babylonian cities belong to the Persian or to the Greek
period. In some cases,1 where we have reason to believe that
older graves have been found, it is almost impossible to esti-
mate their age. Recently, the expedition of the University of
Pennsylvania to Nippur has unearthed remains that appear to
belong to an older period, though nothing can be dated with
any degree of certainty earlier than 2500 B.C.2 Still, with
proper caution, even the material belonging to a later period may
be used for the older periods. Burial customs, as has already
been emphasized, constitute the most conservative elements in
a religion. Such rites are much less liable to change than the
cult of the gods. Foreign invasion would not affect the funeral
rites, even where other religious customs are altered. Even so
violent a change as that produced by the introduction of Mo-
hammedanism into Mesopotamia has not removed traces of the
1 So at Zurghul (or Zerghul) and el-Hibba. See Koldewey in Zeitschrift fiir
Assyriologie, ii. 403-430.
2 See the valuable chapter in Peters' work on Nippier, ii. 214-234.
596 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
old Babylonian religion. Dr. Peters has shown that the district
in the Euphrates Valley selected by the modern Arabs and Per-
sians for the interment of their dead l derives its sanctity from
the days of the old Babylonian kingdom, and many of the customs
observed by the modern Moslems tally with the funeral rites
of ancient Babylonia.2 That the dead were always buried, and
that cremation was practically unknown, may now be regarded
as certain. The conception of Aralu, which, we have seen,
belongs to the most ancient period of religion, is only intelli-
gible upon the assumption that burial was the prevailing
custom. On one of the oldest monuments of Babylonian
art, — the stele of vultures, — earth-burial is represented.3 A
few years ago, some German scholars 4 claimed to have
furnished the proof that the Babylonians cremated their
dead. But, in the first place, the age of the tombs found by
them was not clearly established ; and, secondly, it was not
certain whether the charred remains of human bodies were
due to intentional burning or accidental destruction by fire, at
the time that the city explored by the German scholars
was destroyed. The fact that, as the explorers themselves
observed, the bodies were not completely burned argues in
favor of the latter supposition. The explanation offered by
Koldewey5 for this peculiar condition of the remains — that
the burning was symbolical, and, therefore, not complete — is
unsatisfactory in every particular. There can be no doubt that
some, at least, of the tombs discovered at Warka by Loftus6
belong to the period before the conquest of the country by
Cyrus, and this is certainly the case with many of the tombs
discovered at Nippur. Nowhere do we find traces of burning
1 Proceedings of the American Oriental Society, 1896, p. 166. The dead are
often conveyed hundreds of miles to be interred in Nejef and Kerbela.
2 Peters' Nippur, ii. 325, 326.
3 See below, p. 597. 5 /£.
4 Koldewey, Zeitschrift fur Assyriologie, ii. 406 seq.
6 Travels and Researches in Chaldaea and Susiana, chapter xviii.
THE VIEWS OF LIFE AFTER DEATH. 597
of bodies.1 If it should turn out that cremation prevailed for a
certain period, the fashion, we may feel certain, was due to
foreign influences, but it is more than questionable whether it
was ever introduced at all. Certainly, earth-burial is the char-
acteristically Babylonian (and general Semitic) method of dis-
posing of the dead.
The characteristic feature of the Babylonian tombs is their
simplicity. The dead body, which was often covered with
palm woods, was placed generally on the side — though
occasionally on the back — on a board of wood, or wrapped
in a mat of reeds or palm fibers, and covered with a tub-shaped
clay dish. On the dish there was frequently an ornamental
design, but beyond this, there was no attempt at decoration.
The body was frequently pressed together in order to be brought
within the compass of the dish. Sometimes, the knees were
pulled up or the body placed in a semi-sitting posture, and
there are indications that the bodies were often divided into
two or three parts prior to burial. On the stele of vultures,2
representing the triumph of Eanna-tuma over his enemies,
attendants are seen building a mound over the symmetrically
arranged bodies of the king's soldiers slain in battle. The
monument belongs to the most ancient period of Babylonian
history, and we are justified, therefore, in regarding this method
of earth-burial as the oldest in vogue. The dead, it would
seem, are placed on the ground, or near the surface, and
covered with a mound. This custom would account for the
use of a dish to cover the body, after it became customary to
place the dead in small houses or vaults built for the purpose.
The shape of the dish, or tub, recalls the earth-mound over the
dead, and the tenacity of conventional methods is apparent in
the modern custom, even among Western nations, of raising a
1 Peters' Nippur, ii. 234. Other mounds examined by Peters between W«urka and
Nippur bear out the conclusion.
2 De Sarzec, Decoiwertes en Chaldcc, pi. 3.
598 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
mound over the grave, even though the body is placed at a
depth of six feet and more below the surface. A modification
of the form of coffin was the jar into which the body was forced.
To do this, still greater violence had to be employed. Instead of
one jar, two were also used, the body placed partly in one, partly
in the other, and the two were then joined with bitumen. In
the Persian period, a slipper-shaped coffin was used, into which
the body was inserted through an aperture at one end ; but there
is no evidence that the Babylonians employed this method.
With the bodies, various objects were interred, many of which
had a special significance. Except, perhaps, at a very early
period 1 the dead were not buried naked, but covered with a
garment. The seal cylinder, which, as Herodotus tells us,2
every person of position carried about his person, and
which, when impressed on a clay tablet, served as his signa-
ture, was buried with the dead as an ornament that had a per-
sonal value. The staff which the man was in the habit of
carrying is found in the grave, and also such weapons as arrow-
heads and spears. Various ornaments of copper, iron, gold,
and stone, rings, necklaces or bands of gold were probably
placed with the dead as a sign of affection, not because of any
belief that the deceased needed these objects. Toys, too, are
found in the graves, and we may assume that these were placed
in the tombs of children. The frequent presence of shells in
the tombs is still unexplained. On the other hand, remains
of food, dates, grain, poultry, and fish, that have been found
in graves belonging to various periods, may be regarded as
a proof for the existence of the belief that the dead could
suffer pangs of hunger. The closing lines of the Gilgamesh
epic,3 where the fate of the neglected dead is portrayed, con-
firms this view. But such remains are more frequent in the
early graves than in those of a later time. Animal sacrifices at
1 On the stele of vultures, the dead are naked.
2 Book I, § 195. 3 See p. 512.
THE VIEWS OF LIFE AFTER DEATH. 599
the grave appear to be very old.1 Offerings of food and water
were made to the dead, not only at the time of the burial,
but afterwards by surviving relatives. The son performs the
office of pouring out water to the memory of his father.2 The
close of the legend of Ishtar's journey suggests that the fes-
tival of Tammuz was selected as an 'All-Souls' day. The
weeping for the lost Tammuz served as an appropriate link
for combining with the mourning for the god the lament for
the dead. The water jar is never absent in the old Baby-
lonian tombs, and by the side of the jar the bowl of clay or
bronze is found, and which probably served the same purpose
as a drinking utensil for the dead. How early it became cus-
tomary to bury the dead together we do not know. It may be
that at one time they were buried beneath the dwellings that
they occupied when alive, under the threshold or in the walls;3
but the conception of Aralu as a great gathering-place of the
dead would hardly have arisen, unless the f city of the dead ' by
the side of the ' city of the living ' had become an established
custom. We are, therefore, justified in assuming that as the
villages grew into towns, the huddling together of the living
suggested placing the dead together in a portion of the town
set aside for the purpose. In comparison with the elaborate
constructions in the Egyptian cities of the dead, the Babylonian
necropolis was a shabby affair. Vaults, rarely more than five
feet high, served as the place where the dead were deposited.
These vaults were constructed of bricks, and an extended series
of them gave to the necropolis the appearance of little houses,
suggestive of primitive mud huts. This simplicity, due in the
first instance to the lack of stone as building material in Baby-
lonia, corresponded to the very simple character which the
1 Such sacrifices are pictured on the stele of vultures.
2 1IIR. 4^, col. iv. 1. 20; Belser, Bcitrdgc zur Assyriologic, ii. 175, 18; Pinches,
Babylonian Texts, p. iS.
8 For this custom see Trumbull, The Threshold Covenant, p. 25 ; Peters' >V///«r,
ii. 202, 203.
600 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
dwelling-house retained. The one-story type of dwelling, with
simple partitions, prevailed to the latest period. It was only
in the temples and palaces that architectural skill was developed.
In Assyria, although soft stone was accessible, the example of
Babylonia was slavishly followed. It is due to this that so few
traces of private houses have been found in the Mesopotamian
explorations,1 and the almost primitive character of the graves
— more primitive, by virtue of the strength of the conservative
instinct in everything connected with the dead, than the dwell-
ings of the living — readily accounts for their nearly complete
destruction. Simple as the houses of the dead were, they were
yet carefully guarded against the invasion of air and dust ; and
even after centuries of neglect the contents are found to be
perfectly dry.
The explorations at Nippur show that the tub and bowl forms
of the coffin continued to be used during the period extending
from Hammurabi to Nabonnedos. In later times, it would
appear, the custom of placing food and drink with the dead
fell into disuse.2 We may perhaps find that, as was the case in
Egypt, symbolical representations of food — a clay plate with
the food modeled in clay — took the place of the old custom.
Fewer utensils, too, are found in the graves of the later period ;
but, on the other hand, ornaments increase, until, when we
reach the Persian and Greek periods, mirrors are quite com-
mon, and golden veils are placed over the dead, while handsome
earrings, breastpins, and necklaces indicate the growth of this
luxurious display. The clay coffins, too, are beautifully glazed
and ornamented with elaborate designs. A trace of foreign —
perhaps Graeco- Egyptian — influence may be seen in the human
head modeled on the coffin. Naturally, at all times the differ-
ent ranks occupied by the dead involved more or less modifica-
tions of the prevailing customs. The rich were placed in more
1 Recently, Scheil has discovered some private dwellings at Abu-Habba, which will
be described in his forthcoming volume on his explorations at that place. See also
Peters' Nippur, ii. 200, 201. 2 Peters' Nippitr, ii. 220.
THE VIEWS OF LIFE AFTER DEATH. 601
carefully built vaults than the poor. The coverings and orna-
ments varied with the station of the deceased ; but in general it
may be said that, during the earlier periods of Babylonian-
Assyrian history, simplicity was the rule, and the objects placed
in the tombs were more carefully chosen with reference to the
needs of the dead and the career that he led while living, while
the tendency in later times was away from the religious beliefs
that gave rise to the funeral customs, and in the direction of
luxury and display. This development, however, is independ-
ent of proper burial, upon which, as we have already had occa-
sion to see, great stress was at all times laid. The greatest
misfortune that could happen to a dead person was for his body
to remain overground, or to be removed from the tomb and
exposed to the light of day. In the early monument of Baby-
lonian art, — the ' stele of vultures,' l — already referred to, the
dead foes are punished by being stripped of their clothing and
exposed to the attack of vultures, who are seen carrying off
human heads, legs, and arms. To emphasize the contrast, the
king's soldiers are portrayed as being buried in symmetrical
rows, the head of each body being covered by the feet of the
body in the row above. When the Babylonian and Assyrian
kings wish to curse the one who might venture to destroy the
monuments set up by them, they know of nothing stronger
than to express the hope
That his body may be cast aside,
No grave be his lot.2
The kings punished their enemies by leaving their bodies to
rot in the sun, or they exposed them on poles as a warning to
rebels. Ashurbanabal on one occasion speaks of having
scattered the corpses of the enemy's host 'like thorns and
thistles ' over the battlefield.3 The corpses of the Babylo-
1 See p. 597. The date of the monument is prior to Sargon ; />., earlier than
3800 B.C.
2 VR. 61, col. vi. 11. 54, 55. 8 Rassam Cylinder, col. iii. 1. 40.
602 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
nians who had aided in the rebellion against the king were
given ' to dogs, swine, to the birds of heaven, to the fish of
the sea ' as food.1 The same king takes pleasure in relating
that he destroyed the graves of Elamitic kings and dragged
the bodies from their resting-place2 to Assyria. Their shades,
he adds, were thus unprotected. No food could be tendered
them and no sacrifices offered in their honor. Sennach-
erib, after he has crushed a rebellion that broke out in Baby-
lonia, takes a terrible revenge upon the instigator of the
opposition, Mardukbaliddin, by removing the bodies of the
latter's ancestors from the vaults wherein they were deposited.
The bones of an enemy are enumerated by Ashurbanabal
among the spoil secured by him.3 The mutilation of the dead
body was also a terrible punishment to the dead,4 and we are
told that the person who disturbed a grave is not to be per-
mitted to enter the temple. The desecration of the grave
affected not only the individual whose rest was thus disturbed,
and who, in consequence, suffered pangs of hunger and other
miseries, but reached the survivors as well. The unburied or
disentombed shade assumed the form of a demon,5 and afflicted
the living.
Of the ceremonies incidental to burial, the bronze tablet
above described affords us at least a glimpse. The dead were
placed on a bier and wrapped in some kind of a cover. Priests
were called in to perform rites of purification. One of the
priests, it will be recalled,6 is clad in a fish costume. The
fish is the symbol of Ea, the god of the deep, who becomes
1 Rassam Cylinder, col. iv. 11. 74-76.
2 Ib. col. vi. 11. 76-76.
3 Rassam Cylinder, col. iii. 1. 64. The favorite mutilation was the cutting off of
the head. On one of the sculptured slabs from the palace of Ashurbanabal, a pyramid
of heads is portrayed. The cutting off of the hands, the lips, the nose, and the male
organ, as well as the flaying of the skin, were also practised. (See Sennacherib's
account IR. 42, col. vi. 11. 1-6 ; Rassam Cylinder (Ashurbanabal), ii. 4 and iv. 136.)
4 Rassam Cylinder, col. vii. 11. 46-48. 5 ekinimu. See p. 580. 6 See p. 578.
THE VIEWS OF LIFE AFTEK DEATH. 603
the chief deity appealed to in incantations involving the use
of water. The priest assumes the role of Ea, as it were, by
the symbolical dress that he puts on. The rites appear to
consist of the burning of incense and the sprinkling of water.
It does not of course follow that everywhere the same custom
was observed, but we may at least be certain that the priest
played an important part in the last honors paid to the dead.
The purification was intended to protect the dead from the evil
spirits that infest the grave. The demons of disease, it is true,
could no longer trouble him. They had done their work as
messengers of Allatu. But there were other demons who were
greedy for the blood and flesh of the dead. Though the dead
had passed out of the control of the gods, the latter had at
least the power to restrain the demons from disturbing the
peace of the grave.
In the earlier days, when the bodies were placed on the
ground or only a short distance below it, the building of the
grave-mound was a ceremony to which importance was at-
tached. In the stele of vultures, attendants are portrayed —
perhaps priests — with baskets on their heads, containing the
earth to be placed over the fallen soldiers.1 These attendants
are bare to the waist. The removal of the garments is prob-
ably a sign of mourning, just as among the Hebrews and other
Semites it was customary to put on the primitive loin-cloth 2 as
a sign of grief. In somewhat later times, we find sorrowing
relatives tearing their clothing3 — originally tearing off their
clothing — and cutting their hair as signs of mourning.
1 Heuzey offers another explanation of the scene which is less plausible. (See
De Sarzec, Dccouvcrtes en Chaldcc, p. 98.)
2 Hebrew word Sak. The other rite of mourning among the Hebrews, the putting
of earth on the head (e.g., I Sam. iv. 12; II Sam. i. 2 and xv. 32; Neh. ix. i),
is a survival of the method of burial as portrayed in the ' stele of vultures.' The
earth was originally placed in a basket on the head and used to cover the dead body.
3 The mourning garb mentioned in the Adapa legend (p. 546) is probably a ' torn '
garment.
604 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
The formal lament for the dead was another ceremony upon
which stress was laid. It lasted from three to seven days.1
The professional wailers, male and female, can be traced back
to the earliest days of Babylonian history. Gudea speaks of
them.2 It would appear that at this early period persons were
engaged, as is the case to this day in the Orient, to sing dirges
in memory of the dead.3 The function is one that belongs
naturally to priests and priestesses ; and, while in the course
of time, the connection with the temple of those who acted as
wailers became less formal, it is doubtful whether that connec-
tion was ever entirely cut off. The ' dirge singers, male and
female,' referred to in the story of Ishtar's journey4 were in
the service of some temple. The hymns to Nergal 5 may be
taken as samples of the Babylonian dirges.
The praise of Nergal and Allatu was combined with the
lament for the sad fate of the dead. Gilgamesh weeping for
his friend Eabani 6 furnishes an illustration. Gilgamesh is
described as stretched out on the ground. The same custom is
referred to in the inscriptions of Cyrus,7 and it is interesting to
note that a similar mode of manifesting grief still prevails in
the modern Orient. In the Babylonian dirges, it would
seem, the references to the virtues of the deceased (which are
prominently introduced into the dirges of the present day)
were few. The refrain forms a regular feature of these dirges,
— an indication that, as is still the case in the Orient, there
was a leader who sang the dirge, while the chorus chimed in
at the proper moment. The principle of the stanza of two
lines, one long and one short, that, as Budde has shown,8
controls the wailing songs in the Old Testament (including the
1 Hagen, Cyrus-Texte (Beitrage zur Assyriologie, ii. 219, 223).
2 Inscription B, col. v. 11. 3-5. 5 Ib.
3 Lane, Modern Egyptians^ ii. 286. 6 See p. 487.
4 See p. 575. 7 Hagen, Cyrns-Texte, ib. and p. 248.
8 " The Folk-Song of Israel," The New World, ii. 35 ; also his article " Das
Hebraische Klagelied," Zeitschrift fiir Alttestamcntliche Wissenschaft, ii. 1-52.
THE VIEWS OF LIFE AFTER DKAT1I. 60S
Book of Lamentations, which is based upon this very custom
of lamenting the dead), may be detected in the Babylonian
compositions. The accompaniment of musical instruments to
the dirges also appears to be a very old custom in Babylonia.
In the story of Ishtar's journey the wailers are called upon to
strike their instruments. What kind of instruments were used
in ancient times we do not know. In the Assyrian period, the
harp and flute appear to be the most common.1
At the time that food and drink were placed with the
dead in the grave, some arrangements must have been made
for renewing the nourishment. Entrances to tombs have
been found,2 and Koldewey 8 is of the opinion that the clay
drains found in quantities in the tombs, served as wells to
secure a supply of fresh water for the dead. The wailing
for the dead took place not only immediately after death,
but subsequently. Ashurbanabal speaks of visiting the
graves of his ancestors. He appears at the tombs with rent
garments, pours out a libation to the memory of the dead, and
offers up a prayer addressed to them. We have every reason
to believe that the graves were frequently visited by the sur-
vivors. The festival of Tammuz became an occasion 4 when
the memory of those who had entered Aralu was recalled.
While there are many details connected with the ceremonies
for the dead still to be determined, what has been ascertained
illustrates how closely and consistently these ceremonies followed
the views held by the Babylonians and Assyrians regarding the
life after death. Everything connected with death is gloomy.
The grave is as dark as Aralu ; the funeral rites consist of
dirges that lament not so much the loss sustained by the living
as the sad fate in store for the dead. Not a ray of sunshine
1 In Egypt at present the tambourine is used to accompany the dirges (Lane, ib.
p. 278). 4 See above, p. 575.
2 Peters' Nippur, ii. 173, and elsewhere.
8 Zeitschrift fur Assyriologic, ii. 414.
606 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
illumines the darkness that surrounds these rites. All that is
hoped for is to protect the dead against the attack of demons
greedy for human flesh, to secure rest for the body, and to
guard the dead against hunger and thirst.
It is almost startling to note, to what a degree the views
embodied in Old Testament writings regarding the fate of the
dead, coincide with Babylonian conceptions. The descriptions
of Sheol found in Job, in the Psalms, in Isaiah, Ezekiel, and
elsewhere are hardly to be distinguished from those that we
have encountered in Babylonian literature. For Job,1 Sheol is
The land of darkness and deep shadows.
The land of densest gloom and not of light.
Even where there is a gleam, there it is as dark night.2
The description might serve as a paraphrase of the opening
lines in the story of Ishtar's journey. The Hebrew Sheol is
situated, like the Babylonian Aralu, deep down in the earth.3
It is pictured as a cavern. The entrance to it is through gates
that are provided with bolts. Sheol is described as a land filled
with dust. Silence reigns supreme. It is the gathering-place
of all the living, without exception. He who sinks into Sheol
does not rise up again.
He does not return to his house.
His place knows him no more.4
It is, clearly, ' a land without return,' as the Babylonians con-
ceived it. . The condition of the dead in Sheol is sad, precisely
as the Babylonians pictured the life in Aralu. The dead are
designated by a name 5 that indicates their weak condition.
They can only talk in whispers or they chirp like birds. Their
1 Job, X. 21, 22.
2 /.£., the darkness is so dense that no light can remove it.
3 See the references in Schwally, Das Lcbcn nacJi don Todc nac/i den Vorstcl-
lungen des Alien Israels, pp. 59-68, and Jeremias' Vorstdlungen, pp. 106-116.
4 Job, vii. 10. * Reform.
THE VIEWS OF LIFE AFl'ER DEATH. 607
gait is unsteady. In general, they are pictured as lying quiet,
doomed to inactivity. Death is lamented as an evil. The dead
have passed out of the control of Yahwe, whose concern is with
the living. Yahwe's blessings are meted out in this world, but
not in Sheol. These blessings consist chiefly of long life and
plenty of offspring. The dead need not praise Yahwe. Eccle-
siastes — although a late composition — expresses the old popu-
lar view in the summary of the fate of the dead,1 when it is
said that the dead know nothing of what is going on. Their
memory is gone; they neither love nor hate, and they are
devoid of any ambition. There is no planning, no wisdom, no
judgment in Sheol.
Like the Babylonians, the Hebrews also believed that the
condition of the individual at the time of death was an index
of the condition in store for him in Sheol. He who goes to
Sheol in sorrow is pursued by sorrow after death. Jacob does
not want to go down to Sheol in sorrow,2 because he knows
that in that case sorrow will be his fate after death. To die
neglected by one's family was fatal to one's well-being in Sheol.
Life in Sheol was a continuation, in a measure, of the earthly
existence. Hence, the warrior is buried with his weapons ;
the prophet is recognized by his cloak ; the kings wear their
crowns ; the people of various lands are known by their dress.8
Even deformities, as lameness, follow the individual into the
grave. On the other hand, while the dead were weak and
generally inactive, although capable of suffering, they were
also regarded by the Hebrews as possessing powers superior
to those of the living. As among the Babylonians, the dead
stand so close to the higher powers as to be themselves
possessed of divine qualities. Schwally aptly characterizes
this apparent contradiction by saying ' that the dead are
Refa'im (weak), but, at the same time, Elohim, i.e., divine
i Chapter ix. 5-10. 2 Gen. xlii. 38.
3 Incidentally, a proof that the dead were not buried naked.
608 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
beings.' l Yahwe has no power over the dead, but they receive
some of his qualities. They are invoked by the living. The
dead can furnish oracles, precisely as Yahwe can. They not
only appear to the living in dreams, but their shades can be
raised up from Sheol. A certain amount of worship was cer-
tainly paid to the dead by the ancient Hebrews.
Naturally, these popular views were subjected to considerable
modification with the development of the religion of the Hebrews.
While many features remained, as is shown by the occurrence
of the primitive conception of Sheol in comparatively late pro-
ductions, in one important particular, more especially, did the
spread of an advanced ethical monotheism lead to a complete
departure from the Babylonian conceptions. While, in the
popular mind, the belief that there was no escape from Sheol
continued for a long time, this belief was inconsistent with the
conception of a Divine Being, who, as creator and sole ruler of
the universe, had control of the dead as well as the living.
As long as Yahwe was merely one god among many, no excep-
tion was made ofSthe rule that the concern of the gods was
with the living ; but Yahwe as the one and only god, could not
be pictured as limited in his scope. He was a god for the dead,
as well as for the living. The so-called song of Hannah 2 ex-
presses the new view when it praises Yahwe as the one ' who
kills and restores to life, who leads to Sheol, and who can lead
out of it.' Such a description of Yahwe is totally different
from the Babylonians' praise of Ninib, Gula, or Marduk as the
' restorer of the dead to life,' which simply meant that these
gods could restrain Allatu. The power to snatch "the individual
from' the grasp of Sheol was also ascribed to the national god,
Yahwe. Elijah's restoration of the widow's child 3 to life is an
instance of this power, and Jonah,4 who praises Yahwe for
1 Das Leben nach dem Tode, etc., p. 67'.
2 I Sam. ii. Recognized by the critics as an insertion. See Budde, Die Bucher
Richter tend Samuel, p. 197. 3 J Kings, xvii. 21, 22. 4 Chapter ii. 7.
THE VIEWS OF LIFE AFTER DEATH. 609
having delivered him when the gates of Sheol already seemed
bolted, may not have had anything more in mind than what the
Babylonians meant ; but when the Psalmist, to indicate the
universal rule of Yahwe, exclaims
If I mount to heaven, thou art there,
If I make Sheol my couch, thou art there,1
the departure from the old Hebrew and Babylonian views of
the limitation of divine power is clearly marked. The incon-
sistency between the view held of Yahwe and the limitation of
his power was not, however, always recognized. Hence, even
in late portions of the Old Testament, we find views of the life
after death that are closely allied to the popular notions pre-
vailing in the earlier productions. It is not, indeed, till we
reach a period bordering close on our era that the conflict
between the old and the new is brought to a decided issue in
the disputes of the sects that arose in Palestine.2 The doctrines
of retribution and of the resurrection of the dead are the inevi-
table consequences of the later ethical faith and finally triumph ;
but the old views, which bring the ancient Hebrews into such
close connection with the Babylonians, left their impress in
the vagueness that for a long time characterized these doc-
trines, even after their promulgation. The persistency of the
old beliefs is a proof of the strong hold that they acquired, as
also of the close bond uniting, at one time and for a long period,
Hebrews and Babylonians. What applies to the beliefs regard-
ing the dead holds good also for the rites. Many a modern
Jewish custom3 still bears witness to the original identity of the
Hebrew and Babylonian methods of disposing of and ca.ring
for the dead.
1 Psalms, cxxxix. 8 ; a very late production.
2 Schurer, A History of the Jewish People .in the Time of Jesus Christ, vol. ii.
Division ii. pp. 38, 39, 179-181.
3 E.g., the custom still in vogue among Orthodox Jews of placing the body
wrapped in a shroud upon a board, instead of in a coffin.
610 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
There is but one explanation for this close agreement, — the
same explanation that was given for the identity of traditions
regarding the creation of the world, and for the various other
points of contact between the two peoples that we have
met with. When the Hebrew clans left their homes in the
Euphrates Valley, they carried with them the traditions, beliefs,
and customs that were current in that district, and which they
shared with the Babylonians. Under new surroundings, some
new features were added to the traditions and beliefs, but the
additions did not obscure the distinctive character impressed
upon them by Babylonian contact. We now know that rela-
tions with Babylonia were never entirely broken off by the
Hebrews. The old traditions survived all vicissitudes. They
were adapted to totally changed phases of belief, but the ker-
nel still remained Babylonian. Beliefs were modified, new
doctrines arose ; but, with a happy inconsistency, the old was
embodied in the new. Hence it happens, that in order to
understand the Hebrews, their religion, their customs, and
even their manner of thought, we must turn to Babylonia.
Further discoveries beneath the mounds of Mesopotamia
and further researches in Babylonian literature will add more
evidence to the indebtedness of the Hebrews to Babylonia. It
will be found that in the sacrificial ordinances of the Penta-
teuch, in the legal regulations, in methods of justice and
punishment, Babylonian models were largely followed, or, what
is an equal testimony to Babylonian influence, an opposition to
Babylonian methods was dominant. It is not strange that when
by a curious fate, the Hebrews were once more carried back to
the ' great river of Babylon,' l the people felt so thoroughly at
home there. It was only the poets and some ardent patriots
1 Professor Haupt has recently shown (in a paper read before the American
Oriental Society, April, 1897, and before the Eleventh International Congress of
Orientalists, September, 1897) that such is the meaning of the phrase, Psalms,
cxxxvii. i, which is ordinarily translated 'rivers of Babylon.'
riu-: VIEWS 01- /.//••/<: AFTKK DI-.ATIL r.n
who hung their harps on the willows and sighed for a return to
Zion. The Jewish population steadily increased in Babylonia,
and soon also the intellectual activity of Babylonian Jews
outstripped that of Palestine.1 The finishing touches to the
structure of Judaism were given in Babylonia — on the soil
where the foundations were laid.
1 The Talmud of Babylonia, and not the Talmud of Palestine, became the
authoritative work in the Jewish Church.
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE TEMPLES AND THE CULT.
THE religious architecture of Babylonia and Assyria is of
interest chiefly as an expression of the religious earnestness of
rulers and people, and only in a minor degree as a manifesta-
tion of artistic instincts. The lack of a picturesque building
material in the Euphrates Valley was sufficient to check the
development of such instincts. Important as the adaptation of
the clay soil of Babylonia for simple construction was for the
growth of Babylonian culture, the limitations to the employment
of bricks as a building material are no less significant. Ihering
has endeavored to show 1 by an argument that is certainly bril-
liant and almost convincing, that the settlement of Semites in a
district, the soil of which could be so readily used to replace
the primitive habitations of man by solid structures, made the
Semites the teachers of the Aryans in almost everything that
pertains to civilization. House-building produced the art of
measuring, led to more elaborate furnishings of the habitation,
created various trades, introduced social distinctions, necessi-
tated divisions of time, and gave the stimulus to commercial
intercourse. But, on the other hand, the artistic possibilities
of brick structures were soon exhausted. The house could be
indefinitely extended in length and even height, but such an
extension only added to the monotonous effect. With clay as
a building material, so readily moulded into any desired shape,
and that could be baked, if need be, by the action of the sun
without the use of fire, it was almost as easy to build a large
house as a small one. But the addition of rooms and wings
and stories which differentiated the house from the palace
1 Vorgeschichte der. Indo-Enropacr, pp. 126-141.
THE TEMPLES AND THE CULT. 613
and the palace from the temple, served to make hugeness the
index of grandeur. The best specimens of the religious archi-
tecture of Babylonia and Assyria are characterized by such
hugeness. A proportionate increase of external beauty could
only be secured by a modification of architectural style ; but
the conservative instincts of the people discouraged any devia-
tion from the conventional shapes of the temples, which appear
indeed to have been firmly established long before the days of
Hammurabi. The influence of conventionality finds a striking
illustration in the manner in which the temples of Assyria
follow Babylonian models. Soft and hard stone suitable for
permanent structures was easily procured in the mountainous
district adjacent to Assyria. The Assyrians used this material
for statues, altars, and for the slabs with which they decorated
the exterior and interior walls of their great edifices. Had
they also employed it as a building material, we should have
had the development of new architectural styles ; but the
Assyrians, so dependent in everything pertaining to culture
upon the south, could not cut themselves loose from ancient
traditions, and continued to erect huge piles of brick, as the
homage most pleasing in the eyes of their gods. The Book
of Genesis characterized the central idea of the Babylonian and
Assyrian temples when it represented the people gathered in
the valley of Shinar — that is, Babylonia — as saying : ' Come, let
us build a city and a tower that shall reach up to heaven.' l
The Babylonian and Assyrian kings pride themselves upon the
height of their temples. Employing, indeed, almost the very
same phrase that we find in the Old Testament, they boast of
having made the tops of their sacred edifices as high as
' heaven.' 2 The temple was to be in the literal sense of the
1 Gen. xi. 4.
2 E.g., Tiglathpileser I., col. vii. 11. 102, 103 ; Meissner, Altbabylonisches Priva-
trccht, no. 46 ; Nebopolassar Cylinder (Hilprecht, Old Babylonian Inscriptions,
i. i, pis. 32, 33), col. i. 1. 38. Or 'as high as mountains' ; e.g., Nebuchadnezzar II.,
1R. 58, col. viii. 11. 61-63 ; and so frequently the Neo-LJabylonian kings.
614 BAB YL ONI AN- ASS YRIAN RELIGION.
word a 'high place.' But, apart from the factor of natural
growth, there was a special reason why the Babylonians aimed
to make their sacred edifices high. The oldest temple of Baby-
lonia at the present time known to us, the temple of Bel at Nip-
pur, bears the characteristic name of E-Kur, * mountain house.'
The name is more than a metaphor. The sacred edifices of
Babylonia were intended as a matter of fact to be imitations of
mountains. It is Jensen's merit to have suggested the explana-
tion for this rather surprising ideal of the Babylonian temple.1
According to Babylonian notions, it will be recalled, the earth
is pictured as a huge mountain. Among other names, the
earth is called E-Kur, f mountain house.' The popular and
early theology conceived the gods as sprung from the earth.
They are born in Kharsag-kurkura,2 ' the mountain of all
lands,' which is again naught but a designation for the earth,
though at a later period some particular part of the earth, some
mountain peak, may have been pictured as the birthplace of the
gods, much as among the Indians, Persians, and Greeks we
find a particular mountain singled out as the one on which the
gods dwell. The transfer of the gods or of some of them to
places in the heavens was, as we saw,3 a scholastic theory, and
not a popular belief. It was a natural association of ideas,
accordingly, that led the Babylonians to give to their temples
the form of the dwelling which they ascribed to their gods. The
temple, in so far as it was erected to serve as a habitation for
the god and an homage to him, was to be the reproduction of
the cosmic E-Kur, — ' a mountain house ' on a small scale, a
miniature Kharsag-kurkura. In confirmation of this view, it
is sufficient to point out that E-Kur is not merely the name of
the temple to Bel at Nippur, but is frequently used as a desig-
nation for temple in general ; and, moreover, a plural is formed
1 Kosmologie, pp. 185-195.
2 Or Kharsag-gal-kurktira ; see p. 558.
3 See p. 458.
THE TEMPLES AND THE CULT. 615
of the word which is used for divinities.1 In Assyria we find
one of the oldest temples bearing the name E-kharsag-kurkura,2
that stamps the edifice as the reproduction of the ' mountain
of all lands'; and there are other temples that likewise bear
names 3 in which the idea of a mountain is introduced.
To produce the mountain eft'ect, a mound of earth was piled
up and on this mound a terrace was formed that served as the
foundation plane for the temple proper, but it was perfectly
natural also that instead of making the edifice consist of one
story, a second was superimposed on the first so as to heighten
the resemblance to a mountain. The outcome of this ideal
was the so-called staged tower, known as the zikkurat. The
name signifies simply a * high ' edifice, and embodies the same
idea that led the Canaanites and Hebrews to call their temples
' high places.' 4
The oldest zjkkiirat as yet found is the one excavated by
Drs. Peters and Haynes at Nippur,5 the age of which can be
traced back to the second dynasty of Ur — about 2700 B.C. This
appears to have consisted of three stages, one superimposed on
the other. There is a reference to a zikkurat in the inscriptions
of Gudea that may be several centuries older; but since beneath
the zikkurat at Nippur remains of an earlier building were
found, it is a question whether the staged tower represents the
oldest type of a Babylonian temple. At no time does any special
stress appear to have been laid upon the number of stories
of which the zikkurat was to consist. It is not until a compar-
atively late penbd that rivalry among the rulers and natural
ambition led to the increase of the superimposed stages until
the number seven was reached. The older zikkurats were
1 Ekiirrftli ; Delitzsch, Assyr. Handivortcrbuch, p. 7i8b.
2 IR. 35, no. 3, 22.
3 See below.
4 Hebrew Damoth. Through the opposition of the Hebrew prophets, the term
acquires distasteful associations that were originally foreign to it.
5 See Peters' AT/////r, ii. 124 scq.
616 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
imposing chiefly because of the elevation of the terrace on
which they were erected, and inasmuch as the ideal of the
temple is realized to all practical purposes by the erection of a
high edifice on an elevated mound, the chief stress was laid upon
the height of the terrace. The terrace, in a certain sense, is the
original zikkurat — the real ' high place ' — and the temple of one
story naturally precedes the staged tower, and may have remained
the type for some time before the more elaborate structure was
evolved. However this may be, we are justified in associating
the mountain motif with the beginnings of religious architec-
ture in the Euphrates Valley, precisely as the underlying cos-
mic notions belong to the earliest period of which we have
any knowledge. That the staged tower when once evolved was
regarded as the most 'satisfactory expression of the religious
ideas follows from the fact that all the large centers of Baby-
lonia had a zikkurat of some kind dedicated to the patron
deity, and probably many of the smaller places likewise. A list
of zikkurats l furnishes the names of no less than twenty ; and
while all of the important places are included, there are others
which do not appear to have played an important part in either
the religious or political history of the country, and which
nevertheless had their zikkurat. To judge from the fact that
in this list several names of zikkurat are connected with one
and the same place, more than one zikkurat, indeed, could be
found in a large religious center.2
THE CONSTRUCTION AND CHARACTER OF THE ZIKKURATS,
The zikkurat was quadrangular in shape. The orientation
of the four corners towards the four cardinal points was only
approximate.3 Inasmuch as the rulers of Babylonia from a
1 II R. 50, obverse.
2 Perhaps, however, these several names all designate a single zikkurat.
3 Peters' Nippur, i. 246 ; ii. 120.
THE TEMTLES AND THE CULT. 617
very early period call themselves * king of the four regions,' l it
has been supposed that the quadrangular shape was chosen
designedly ; but there is no proof that any stress was laid upon
symbolism of this kind, or upon the orientation of the corners
of the sacred edifices. More attention was bestowed upon
making the brick structure huge and massive.
The height of the zikkurats varied. Those at Nippur and
Ur 2 appear to have been about 90 feet high, while the tower
at Borsippa which Sir Henry Rawlinson carefully examined3
attained a height of 140 feet. The base of this zikkurat,
which may be regarded as a specimen of the tower in its most
elaborate form, was a quadrangular mass 272 feet square and
26 feet high. The second and third stories were of equal
height, but the square mass diminished with each story by 42
feet. The height of the four upper stories was 15 feet each.
At the same time, the mass diminished steadily at the rate of
42 feet, so that the seventh story consisted of a mass of only 20
feet square. Sargon's zikkurat at Khorsabad (the suburb of
Nineveh) was about the same height.
The average number of stages of the zikkurat appears to
have been three, as at Nippur and Ur, or four, as at Larsa.4
In the pictorial representations of the towers,5 we similarly find
either three or four. In these smaller zikkurats, the height of
1 For the meaning of this phrase, see Winckler's Altoricntalische Forsc/iiin^cn,
iii. 208-222, and Jensen's Kosmologie, p. 167.
2 From Heuzey's note in De Sarzec, Dccourvertes en Chaldcc, p. 31, it would
appear that at Lagash there was a zikkurat of modest proportions, but Dr. Peters in-
forms me that from his observations at Telloh, he questions whether the building in
question represents a zikkurat at all, though, as we know from other sources, a
zikkurat existed there in the days of Gudea.
3 Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, xviii.
4 Of Sargon's zikkurat at Khorsabad, also, only four stories have been found.
Perrot and Chipiez (History of Art in Chaldaea and Assyria, i. 388) suppose that
there may have been seven.
5 E.g. Perrot and Chipiez, ib. p. 128. Hommel, Geschichte Babylonicns itnd
Assyriens, p. 19.
618 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
each tower, as in the first three stories of the tower at Borsippa,
appears to have been alike; but the mass diminished in pro-
portion in order to secure a space for a staircase leading from
one story to the other. This method of ascent was older than
the winding balustrade, which was better adapted to the more
elaborate structures of later times. No doubt, as the towers
increased in height, other variations were introduced — as, eg.,
in the proportions of the stones — without interfering with the
essential principle of the zikkurat.
The ungainly appearance presented by the huge towers was
somewhat relieved by decorations of the friezes and by the
judicious use of color. Enameled bricks of bright hues, such
as yellow and blue,1 became common, and in the case of some
of the towers it would appear that a different color was chosen
for each story. Whether all the bricks in each story were col-
ored or only those at the edge, or, perhaps, some rows, it is
impossible to say. From Herodotus' description of the seven
concentric walls of Ecbatana,'2 in which each wall was distin-
guished by a certain color, the conclusion has been drawn that
the same colors — white, black, scarlet, blue, orange, silver,
and gold — were employed by the Babylonians for the stages
of their towers ; but there is no satisfactory evidence that this
was the case. That these colors were brought into connection
with the planets, as some scholars have supposed, is highly
improbable.
As already pointed out, no special stress seems to have been
laid upon the number of stories of which the zikkurat consisted,
but the natural result of ambition and rivalry among builders
tended towards an increase of the height, and this end could be
most readily attained by adding to the number of stories. Still,
there may have been some symbolism which led to the choice
of three, four, or seven stories, inasmuch as these numbers
1 Peters (Nippur, i. 214) found many yellow-colored bricks at Borsippa.
2 Book I, § 98.
THE TEMPLES AND THE CULT. 619
have a sacred import among so many nations.1 For the num-
ber seven, the influence of cosmological associations is quite
clear. The two most famous of the zikkurats of seven stages
were those in Babylon and in Borsippa, opposite Babylon. The
latter bears the significant name E-ur-imin-an-ki,2 i.e., 'the house
of the seven directions of heaven and earth.' The 'seven
directions ' were interpreted by the Babylonian theologians as
a reference to the seven great celestial bodies, — the sun and
moon and the five planets Ishtar, Marduk, Ninib, Nergal, and
Nabu.3 To each of these gods one story was supposed to be
dedicated, and the tower thus became a cosmological symbol,
elaborating in theological fashion the fundamental idea of the
zikkurat as a reproduction of the dwelling-place of the gods.
The identification of the five gods with the planets is a proof
of the scholastic character of the interpretation, and hence of
its comparatively late origin. This interpretation of the num-
ber, seven, however, was not the only one proposed in the
Babylonian schools. Two much older towers than those of
Babylon and Borsippa bear names in which ' seven ' is intro-
duced. One of these is the zikkurat to Nin-girsu at Lagash,
which Gudea 4 describes as ' the house of seven divisions of the
world'; the other, the tower at Uruk,5 which bore the name
f house of seven zones.' The reference in both cases is, as
Jensen has shown,6 to the seven concentric zones into which
the earth was divided by the Babylonians. It is a conception
that we encounter in India and Persia, and that survives in the
seven * climates ' into which the world was divided by Greek
and Arabic geographers. It seems clear that this interpreta-
1 See a paper by E. W. Hopkins on The Holy Numbers of the Rig-Veda (Oriental
Studies, Boston, 1894, pp. 141-147).
- Written ideographically, as the names of the zikkurats and of all sacred edifices
invariably are.
3 See above, p. 459.
4 Inscription G, col. i. 1. 14 ; D, col. ii. 1. n.
5 UK. 50; obverse 20. See p. 472.
6 Kosmologie, pp. 171-174.
620 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
tion of the number seven is older than the one which identified
each story with one of the planets.1 Both interpretations have
a scholastic aspect, however, and the very fact that there
are two interpretations, justifies the suspicion that neither fur-
nishes the real explanation why the number seven was chosen.
It by no means follows from the names borne by the zikkur-
ats at Lagash and Uruk that they actually consisted of seven
stories. The ' seven divisions ' and the ' seven zones ' are
merely terms equivalent to ' universe.' The names given to
the towers would have been equally appropriate if they con-
sisted — as they probably did — of fewer stories than seven.
But, on the other hand, the introduction of the number seven
into the names may be regarded as a factor which influenced
ambitious builders to make the number of stories seven. Over
and above this, however, seven was chosen, primarily, because
it was a large number, and, secondly, because it was a sacred
number, — sacred in part because large, since ' largeness ' .and
' sacredness ' are correlated ideas in the popular phases of early
religious thought. In the same way, it is because seven was
popularly sacred that the world was divided into seven zones
and that the planets were fixed at seven, not vice versa.
The opinion of some scholars 2 that the zikkurats were used
for astronomical observations remains a pure conjecture, of
which it cannot even be said that it has probability in its favor.
It is certain that the astronomical observations, since they were
conducted by the priests, were made in the temple precincts ;
but a small room at the top of a pyramid difficult of access
seems hardly a spot adapted for the purpose. Moreover, the
sacred character of the zikkurat speaks against the supposition
1 The suggestion is worthy of consideration whether the name ' seven directions of
heaven and earth ' may not also point to a conception of seven zones dividing the
heavens as well as the earth. One is reminded of the ' seven ' heavens of Arabic
theology.
2 So e.g., Kaulen, Assyrien und Babylonien (3d edition), p. 58 ; Vigouroux, La
Bible et les Decouvertes Modernes (4th edition), i. 358.
yy//i TEMPLES AND THE CULT. 621
that it should have been put to such constant use, and for pur-
poses not directly connected with the cult. In the numerous
astronomical reports that we have, there is not a single refer-
ence from which one could conclude that the observations
reported were made from the top of a zikkurat.
But, on the other hand, it would appear that as the zikkurat
developed from a one-story edifice into a tower, and as the
number of the stages increased, the zikkurat assumed more of
an' ornamental character. While the ascent of the tower con-
tinued to be regarded to the latest days as a sacred duty,
pleasing in the eyes of the deity, for the ordinary and more
practical purposes of the cult, other buildings were erected
near the tower. Within the temple area and bordering on it
there were smaller shrines, while in front of the zikkurat there
was a large open place, where the pilgrims who flocked to the
sacred city, congregated. The sacrifices which formed the
essential feature of worship were brought, not at the top of
the zikkurat, but on altars that were erected at the base.
The ideographic designation of the zikkurat as a ' conspicu-
ous house,' l which accords admirably with the motive ascribed
in the eleventh chapter of Genesis to the builders of a zikkurat
to erect an edifice that "could be seen," supports the view here
taken of the more decorative position which the staged tower
came to occupy, — an homage to the gods rather than a place
where they were to be worshipped, something that suggested
the dwelling-place of a god, to be visited only occasionally by
the worshipper — in short, a monument forming part of a
religious sanctuary, but not coextensive with the sanctuary.
The differentiation that thus arose between the dwelling-place
of the god and the place where he was to be worshipped is a
perfectly natural one. To emphasize the fact that the zikkurat
was the temple for the god, a small room was built at the top
1 Lit., 'house to be seen,' Igi-e-nir. See, e.g., VR. 29, no. 4, 40, and Delitzsch,
Assyr. Handu'ortcrbiicli, p. 262.
622 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
of the zikkurat,1 and it was a direct consequence of this same
distinction between a temple for the gods and a temple for
actual worship that led to assigning to zikkurats special names,
and such as differed from the designation of the sacred quarter
of which the zikkurat formed the most conspicuous feature.
Thus the name E-Kur, ' mountain house,' though evidently an
appropriate designation for the zikkurat, becomes the term for
the sacred area which included in time a large series of build-
ings used for the cult, whereas the zikkurat itself receives the
special name of 'house of oracle';2 and similarly in the case of
the various other religious centers of Babylonia, the name of
the zikkurat is distinct from that of the sacred quarter — the
temple in the broader sense.
The special position which the zikkurat thus came to occupy
is, of course, merely an outcome of the growth of the religious
centers of the country, and involves no departure from the
religious ideals of earlier days. The distinction is much of the
same order as we find in the case of the Hebrew temple at
Jerusalem, where the court in which the worshippers gathered
was distinct from the ' holy of holies,' which was originally
regarded as the dwelling of Yahwe, and in later times was
viewed as the spot where he manifested himself. The name
' house of oracle ' given to the zikkurat at Nippur is a valu-
able indication of the special sanctity that continued to be
attached to the staged tower.
THE TEMPLE AND THE SACRED QUARTER.
But the zikkurat, while the most characteristic expression of
the religious spirit of Babylonia, was by no means the only
kind of sacred edifice that prevailed.
1 So at Babylon, at least, according to Herodotus. Traces of such a room were
also found in connection with the zikkurat at Nippur (Peters, Nipftir, ii. 122.
2 Bit pirishti. IIR. 50, obverse, 6. Another name (or perhaps the name of a
second zikkurat at Nippur ; see p. 616, note 2) is Im-kharsag, i.e., ' mountain of awe.'
Peters' rendering (Nippztr, ii. 122) of the names is inaccurate.
THE TEMl'LES AND THE CULT. 623
The excavations at Nippur have afforded us for the first time
a general view of a sacred quarter in an ancient Babylonian
city. The extent of the quarter was considerable. Dr. Peters'
estimate is eight areas for the zikkurat and surrounding struc-
tures, and to this we may add several acres more, since beyond
the limits of the great terrace there were buildings to the south-
east and southwest, used for religious purposes. It is likely
that the extent of E-Sagila at Babylon was even greater. Out-
side of the temple area at Nippur, Peters l and Haynes unearthed
a court of considerable size, lined with brick columns. The
court was open to the sky, but the columns supported a roof
which was apparently of wood. Similar courts have been found
elsewhere, so that we are justified in regarding the Nippur
structure as characteristic of the architecture of Babylonia.
The court was attached to an edifice of considerable size,
which contained among other things rooms in which the temple
records were kept. The entrance to the court was by a large
gateway, supported on each side by a brick column, double the
diameter of those that surrounded the court. While the nature
of the building is not perfectly clear, still the presence of the
temple archives and the gateway make it probable that the
structure was used in connection with the cult of some deity
worshipped at Nippur. Lending weight to this supposition are
the points of resemblance between this structure and the sacred
edifices of the ancient Hebrews and Arabs. A court of sixty
columns — made of wood, quadrangular in shape, with the
supports and tops of metal — was the characteristic feature of
the tabernacle'.2 Within this court, open to the sky, the people
gathered for worship. The altar and the basin for ablutions
stood in the court, while the holy tent containing the ark was
set up near the eastern end of the place. Similarly at Mecca,3
1 Peters' Nippur, ii. chapter vi.
2 Schick, Die Stifishittlc, dcr Tcmpel, und der Tcmpclplatz dcr Jetztzcit, pp. 8, 9.
3 Snouck-Hurgronje Mekka (Atlas, pi. 1). The present structure, though com-
paratively modern, is built after ancient models.
624 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
the Kaaba, the pulpit, and the sacred fountain are grouped
within a space enclosed on all sides by colonnades. Again,
surrounding the Solomonic temple on three sides was a spa-
cious court. This court was enclosed with colonnades.1 It
may well be, therefore, that the edifice around or near the
fine court of columns at Nippur was a sacred structure,
erected in honor of some deity. The two large brick col-
umns at the entrance to the Nippur court are paralleled in
the case of the Solomonic temple by the two large columns,
known as Yakhin and Boaz, that stood at the gateway.
These names are as yet unexplained. Their symbolic char-
acter, apart from other evidence, may be concluded from
the circumstance that, as Schick has shown,2 the columns
stood free, and did not serve as a support for any part
of the gateway.3 There is no need, therefore, for any hesita-
tion in comparing these two columns, whose presence in the
Solomonic structure is certainly due to foreign influence, to
those found at Nippur.4
That the columns at Nippur were erected in accordance with
recognized custom follows from De Sarzec's discovery of two
enormous round columns within the sacred quarter of Lagash.5
In the light of Peters' excavations, the significance of the
columns at Lagash becomes clear. Unfortunately, De Sar-
zec's excavations at Lagash at the point of the mound in
question were interrupted, but he gives reasons for believing
that other columns existed near the two large ones found by
1 Schick, ib. pp. 125-131.
2 Die Stiftshiittc, der Tempcl, und der Tempelplatz der Jctztztit, p. 82.
3 On the significance of the gate in sacred edifices, see Trumbull, The Threshold
Covenant, pp. 102-108.
4 Dr. Peters is of the opinion that at the entrance to the temple area proper at
Nippur there also stood two large columns.
5 Decouvertes en Chaldcc, pp. 62-64. Heuzey, in a valuable note, already suggests
the comparison with the two columns of Solomon's which is here maintained on the
basis of the excavations at Nippur.
THE TEMPLES AND THE CULT. 625
him.1 There is, therefore, every reason to conclude that at
Lagash, as at Nippur and no doubt elsewhere, the two columns
belonged to a great gateway leading into a large court of col-
umns. That these columns served a symbolic purpose in the
Babylonian temple as they did at Jerusalem, cannot be main-
tained with certainty, but is eminently likely.
The court of columns was surrounded by a series of rooms.
If the view taken of the building is correct, these rooms were
used for the temple administration. However this may be,
there can be no doubt that the structures of various size found
around the zikkurat at Nippur served as dwellings for the
priests and the temple attendants, as stalls for the temple
cattle, as shops for the manufacture and sale of votive objects,
and the like. Within the temple area proper were the schools
where young priests were trained to be scribes, and received
instructions in the doctrines and rites. The astronomical
observatories, too, were situated near the temple. The schools
served, as they still do in the orient, as the gathering-place
of the mature scholars. The systematized pantheon, and the
cosmological and astronomical systems represent the outcome
of the intellectual activity that manifested itself within the sacred
quarters of the cities of Babylonia. The execution of justice
being in the hands of the priests, the sacred area also contained
the rooms where the judges sat. It is interesting to note that
Gudea mentions a hall of judgment in the temple to Nin-girsu
at Lagash. The number of such buildings attached to the
temple precinct varied, of course, according to the needs and
growth of each place. In Nippur, the numbers appear to have
been very large. We may assume, likewise, that at Sippar, Uruk,
Ur, and Larsa the zikkurat was the center of a considerable
group of buildings, while at Babylon in the days of her greatest
power, the temple area of E-Sagila must have presented the
appearance of a little city by itself, shut off from the rest of the
i lb. p. 64.
626 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
town by a wall which invariably enclosed the sacred quarter.
Within this large wall there were smaller ones, marking the
several divisions of the temple buildings. The construction of
the smaller edifices does not appear to have varied from the
ordinary form chosen for the one-story dwelling-houses in the
city proper. The material used for all structures — the large
and the small ones — was brick. In earlier times the bricks were
merely dried in the sun. The buildings, as a consequence, suf-
fered much from the influence of the heat and rain, and required
frequent repairs. Often the tower would crumble away, and an
entirely new edifice would have to be erected. The later cus-
tom of kiln-dried bricks was an improvement, and still more
solidity was insured when the exterior series of brick was
glazed. In the older buildings, the bricks were merely piled
together, without cement. Afterwards straw was mixed with
the clay, but as early as Gudea's days the bitumen, abounding
in the valley, became the common cement employed in all edi-
fices of importance. Wood was used in the case of smaller
sanctuaries (as also in palaces) for the roof, and the kings often
refer with pride to the efforts they made to obtain the precious
cedars of the Lebanon forests for their building enterprises.
The decoration was confined largely to the facades, the doors,
and the floors. A pleasing effect also was produced by the
judicious distribution of glazed and enameled bricks in
the walls. Colors were used with still greater lavishness in the
decorations of the interior. The brilliancy was heightened
by the use of precious stones and gold and silver for the walls
and floors and ceilings. The aim of the builders was, as they
constantly tell us, to make the buildings as brilliant as the
sunlight. The decorations of the brick walls and floors suggest
textile patterns, and to account for this, some scholars have
supposed that prior to the use of colored bricks, it was cus-
tomary to cover the walls and floors of temples and palaces
with draperies and rugs. The suggestion lacks proof, but has
TV/A' '/'AJ// '/.A' A' A XI) THE CULT. 627
much in its favor. In exterior architecture no profound changes
were ever introduced, but within the prescribed limits, the
builders did their utmost to make their edifices testimonials of
their zeal and power. They imported gold, copper, and diorite
from the Sinai peninsula and Arabia, precious stones from Ar-
menia and the Upper Euphrates, wood from Bahrein and from
various parts of the Amanus range, and so all quarters of the
ancient world of culture were ransacked for contributions to
add to the splendor of the Babylonian and Assyrian cities.
Much care was bestowed in the course of time upon the portals.
The wooden gates were covered with bronze, in which art of
decoration great skill was developed.1 The columns of stone
appear only in Assyrian edifices as decorations in the front of
palaces, supporting a portal or portico that projects from the
temple proper.2 The introduction appears to be due to foreign
influence, perhaps Hittite.3
To determine the interior arrangement of a sacred structure,
we have two small Assyrian temples, excavated by Layard at
Nimrod, to serve as our guide.4 A long hall constituted the
chief feature. At the extreme end of this hall was a small
room, in which stood a statue of the god to whom the tem-
ple was dedicated. This room, known as the papakhu or
parakku, was the most sacred part of the temple, and it is
doubtful whether any but the king or the highest officials
had access to it. Certainly, no one could approach the
presence of the deity without the mediation of a priest.
Both terms for this room convey the idea of its being
1 The best example for Assyria is furnished by the magnificent bronze gates of
Balawat, now in the British Museum. See Birch and Finches, TJic Bronze Orna-
ments of tJic Palace Gates of Balawat (London, 1881).
2 See the illustrations in Perrot and Chipiez, History of Art in Chaldca and
Assyria, 5. 142, 143.
3 So Puchstein and Friedrich, but see Meissner-Rost, Noch cinmal Zida at Borsippa are used to denote
the entire sacred precinct in these cities, and not merely the
chief structure. The zikkurat always had a special name of
its own.
A factor that contributed largely to the growth of the sacred
precinct in the large centers was the circumstance that the
political importance of such centers as Nippur, Lagash, Ur,
Babylon, and Nineveh led the rulers to group around the wor-
ship of the chief deity, the cult of the minor ones who consti-
tuted the family or the court of the chief god. The kings
measured their importance by the number of the gods upon
whose assistance they could rely. The priests came to the
assistance of the kings in connecting the gods of the royal
pantheon in such a way, as to satisfy the pride of both their
royal and divine masters.1 The ambition of the kings, more
especially of the Assyrian empire, led also to the addition of
foreign deities to the pantheon. For these also shrines were
built within or near the sacred precinct.
Gudea sets the example for his successors by parading a
large pantheon at the close of his inscriptions,2 and a list of
temples in Lagash, recently published by Scheil,3 shows that
1 See pp. 109 seq.
2 See p. 1 06.
3 Recueil des Travattx, etc., xvii. 39.
THE TEMPLES AND THE CULT. 635
most, if not all, of the gods invoked by the ruler had a sanc-
tuary erected in his or her honor. There were, as we have
seen, several quarters in Lagash, and therefore several sacred
precincts, so that we cannot be certain that all of these sanc-
tuaries stood in one and the same quarter. But, since the list
in question furnishes the name of no less than thirteen sacred
edifices, we are certain that as many as four or five smaller
chapels surrounded the precinct in which stood the great
temple E-Ninnu, sacred to Gudea's chief god Ningirsu-
Ninib.
The list is headed by the sanctuary to Nin-girsb. There
follow temples to Bau, to Nin-gishzida, Nin-mar, Nina, Dumuzi,
Nin-si-a, Ga-sig-dug known to us from the inscriptions of Gudea,
besides others, like Shabra (?), Nin-sun, Nin-tu, that appear
here for the first time. In Nippur, we find traces of the wor-
ship of Belit (or Nin-lil), of Ninib, and of Nusku, though with
the exception of the first named, the worship of these gods has
not been traced back further than the days of the Cossean
dynasty. Subsequent excavations may, of course, change the
present aspect ; but one gains the impression from the most
ancient inscriptions found at Nippur that at an early period
Bel was a god much like the Hebrew Yahwe, " jealous " of
having others at his side. Such a conception would help to
account for the title ' lord ' being applied to him above all
others, and also aids us in understanding the lasting impression
he made upon the people of Babylonia, — an impression so
profound that when the time came for En-lil to yield his
supremacy to Marduk, no better means could be found of
emphasizing the latter's authority, than by transferring to him
the names and titles of the older Bel.1 In this respect, how-
ever, Nippur was an exception, and in later times the Bel cult
was affected by the same influences that led Gudea to group
around the sanctuary to Nin-girsu, edifices sacred to other gods
1 See pp. 140 seq.
636 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
and goddesses. Lugalzaggisi l of Erech enumerates an exten-
sive pantheon,2 which contains most of the chief deities, and
from which we may conclude that the temple of Nana was simi-
larly the center of a large precinct in which the cult of other
deities was carried on. When we come to the cult of Marduk
at Babylon and of Nabu at Borsippa, the inscriptions, chiefly
those of Nebuchadnezzar, come to our aid in showing us the
arrangement of the various chapels that were comprised within
the sacred precincts of E-Sagila and E-Zida, respectively. In
the first place, the close relationship between Marduk and
Nabu was" emphasized by placing a papakhu to Nabu in the
precinct of E-Sagila, which — built in imitation of E-Zida at
Borsippa — was called by the same name.8 This papakhu, it
would seem, was independent of a special temple to Nabu
known as E-Makh-tila, and which lay in Borsippa. The consort
of Marduk, Sarpanitum, likewise had her temple in Babylon,
and naturally close to the chief sanctuary of Marduk.4 Ea,
the father of Marduk, had a small sanctuary known as E-kar-
zaginna in the sacred precinct.5 It does not follow, of course,
that all the temples in a center like Babylon or Borsippa
were concentrated in one place. Indeed, when Nebuchad-
nezzar speaks of three temples to Gula being erected in
Borsippa,6 it is certain that they could not have been within
the precinct of E-Zida, and so the temples to Shamash and
Ramman, Sin and Ishtar, as well as to Nabu in Babylon, had
an independent position ; but we are at least warranted in con-
cluding that they were not far removed from E-Sagila, and so,
likewise, the numerous temples enumerated by Nebuchadnezzar
1 The date of this king has recently been pushed down by Thureau-Dangin, con-
siderably later than the date assigned to him by Hilprecht (Revue Semitique,
v. 265-269). 2 See p. 1 10.
3 Nebuchadnezzar, IR. 65, col. i. 11. 34, 35.
4 This is to be concluded from Nebuchadnezzar, ib. \. 32.
5 See Tiele's note, Zeitschrift fiir Assyriologic, ii. 184, note.
6 IR. 55, col. iv. 11. 54-57.
THE TEMPLES AND THE CULT. 637
as erected or improved by him in Borsippa were not far distant
from Nabu's sanctuary, — the famous E-Zida. The palaces of
the kings were also erected near the temples. In Babylon, we
know that before Nebuchadnezzar's days, the palace stood so
close to E-Sagila that an enlargement of it was impossible with-
out encroaching on the sacred quarter.1 The tendency to
combine with the worship of the chief god, the cult of others is
as characteristic of Assyrian rulers as of their Babylonian
predecessors. We are fortunate in possessing an extensive
list,2 enumerating the various deities worshipped in the temples
of Assyria, and the occasions on which they are to be invoked.
The information to be gained from this list is all the more
welcome since the Assyrian kings are chiefly interested in
transmitting an account of their military expeditions, and tell
us comparatively little of the religious edifices in their capitols.
From this list we learn that in the old temple sacred to Anu
and Ramman,3 in the city of Ashur — the oldest Assyrian tem-
ple known to us,4 — some twenty deities were worshipped.
Images at least of these deities must have stood in the
temple ; 5 but, since there is a distinct reference to zikkurats 6 in
the list, for some of them special sanctuaries of some kind
must have been erected within the precinct. From the same
list we learn that there was a temple to Marduk 7 in Ashur in
which the cult of the Shamash, Sarpanitum, Ramman, Ninib,
Anunit was also carried on ; similarly, in the temples of Ashur,
of Gula, and of Ninib, other gods were worshipped. Pro-
visions of some kind for the cult of these deities must have
1 See Tiele, Z.citschrift fiir Assyriologie, ii. 190.
2 III Rawlinson, pi. 66. The list also contains objects in the temples used for the
cult.
3 IIIR. 66. obverse, col. ii. 11. 2-25. 4 See p. 207.
5 The sign for image occurs in connection with some of the gods.
c The term can hardly be used here in the strict sense of ' towers,' but appears
to have become a general word for a sacred structure.
7 Ib. col. iii. 11. 22-34.
638 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
been made, and one cannot escape the conclusion that in the
Assyrian capitols, the sacred precincts likewise covered consid-
erable territory, and that the tendency existed towards a steady
increase of the structures erected in connection with the cult
of the patron deity. Sennacherib proudly describes Nineveh
as the city which contained the shrines of all gods and god-
desses.1
THE NAMES OF THE ZIKKURATS AND TEMPLES.
We have seen that every sacred edifice had a special name
by which it was known. This custom belongs to the oldest
period of Babylonian history, and continues to the latest.
Through these names, to which, no doubt, considerable signifi-
cance was attached, we obtain a valuable insight into the reli-
gious spirit of the Babylonians ; but it is important to note
that the custom does not appear to have been as general 2 in
Assyria, where the temples are simply known as the house of
this or that god or goddess. Of special interest are those
names which were suggested by the original design of the
temples. Such are E-Kur, ' the mountain house ' at Nippur,
E-kharsagkurkura, 'the house of the mountain of all lands,' the
name of several temples.3 The same idea finds expression also
in such names as E-kharsag-ella, or ' house of the glorious moun-
tain,' the name of a temple to Gula in Babylon; E-kharsag, 'the
mountain house,' a temple in Ur;4 E-kur-makh, ' the house of
the great mountain,' which a text 5 declares to be equivalent to
E-kharsag-kalama. Closely allied with these names are those
indicating in one way or the other, the height or greatness of
1 Meissner-Rost, Bauinschriften Sanhcrib'>s, p. 7.
2 See, e.g., the list IIIR. 66. An exception is formed by the temple to Ramman
in the city of Asshur, which has a special name. See the following note.
3 Including the one to Ramman in Asshur.
4 IR. 2. nos. n, 2.
5 IIR. 50, obverse 13.
THE TEMPLES AND THE CULT. 639
the buildings, as the general aim of the builders. Prominent
among such names are E-Sagila, ' the lofty house,' the famous
temple and temple area at Babylon ; E-makh, ' the great
house,' a chapel to Nin-kharsag, situated perhaps within
E-Sagila; E-gal-makh, ' the great palace,' an old temple in Ur ;
E-anna, ' the heavenly house,' that is, the house reaching up to
heaven, which is the name of the temple of Ishtar or Nana at
Erech ; E-Igi-e-nir-kidur-makh,1 * the tower of the great dwelling '
sacred to Ninni at Kish. To the same class belong such desig-
nations as E-dur-an-ki, 'the link of heaven and earth,'2 the
name of a zikkurat at Larsa ; E-an-dadia, * the house reach-
ing to heaven,' the zikkurat at Agade ; E-pa, * the summit
house,' the zikkurat to Nin-girsu at Lagash ; E-gubba-an-ki,
'the point of heaven and earth,' one of the names of the zik-
kurat in Dilbat ; E-dim-anna, c the house of heavenly construc-
tion,' the chapel to Sin within the precinct of E-Zida at Borsippa,
— a name that again conveys the notion of an edifice reaching
up to heaven. The names of the zikkurats at Erech and Bor-
sippa, ' the house of seven zones ' and ' the house of the seven
divisions of heaven and earth,' respectively, while conveying, as
we saw,3 cosmological conceptions of a more specific character,
may still be reckoned in the class of names that embody the
leading purpose of the tower in Babylonia, as may also a name
like E-temen-an-ki, 'the foundation stone of heaven and earth,'
assigned to the zikkurat to Marduk in Babylonia.
The sacred edifice, as the dwelling of the god to whom it is
dedicated, leads to such names as E-Zida, ' the true house or
fixed house,' 4 the famous temple to Nabu in Borsippa ; E-dur-
gina,5'the house of the established seat, 'a temple of Bel-sarbi6
1 Ige-e-nir = zikkurat ; Kidur = shubtu (dwelling) ; Makh — rabu (great).
2 The name approaches closely to the conception of a zikkurat in the Book of
Genesis, as a ' ladder' connecting heaven and earth. Gen. xxviii. 12.
8 See above, p. 619.
4 The ideas ' true, fixed, established, eternal ' are all expressed by the element Zida.
5 I adopt this reading as the one generally used. 6 See above, p. 242.
640 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
in Baz ; E-ki-dur^garza, 'the sacred dwelling/ a temple to Nin-
lil-anna in Babylon ; E-kua, * the dwelling-house,' the name of
the papakhu of Marduk in E-Sagila; E-gi-umunna, 'the perma-
nent dwelling'; E-esh2-gi, a shrine to Nin-girsu at Lagash with
the same meaning, ' permanent house.'
Another class is formed by such names as are suggested by
the attributes of the deity to whom the edifices are dedicated.
Such are E-babbara, ' the brilliant house,' which, as the name
of the temples to Shamash at Sippar and Larsa, recalls at once
the character of the sun-god. Similarly, E-gish-shir-gal, ' the
house of the great luminary,' was an appropriate name for the
temple to the moon-god at Ur. The staff or sceptre being
the symbol of the god Nabu, suggests as the name of a sanc-
tuary to him in Babylonia, the name E-pad-kalama-suma, ' the
house of him who gives the sceptre of the world,' while the
character of Shamash as the god of justice finds an expression
in the name E-ditar-kalama, ' the house of the universal judge,'
given to his temple or chapel in Babylon. The association of
the number fifty with Ningirsu-Ninib leads to the name E-ninnu,
' house of fifty,' 3 for his temple in Lagash. Again, the position
of Anu in the pantheon accounts for the name E-adda, ' house
of the father,' given to his temple, just as E-nin-makh, * the
house of the great lady,' the name of a chapel in Babylon, at
once recalls a goddess like Ishtar. Other names that describe
a temple by epithets of the gods to whom they are sacred, are
E-nun-makh, 'the house of the great lord,' descriptive of Sin;
E-me-te-ur-sagga, ' the house of the glory of the warrior,' a tem-
ple sacred to Zamama-Ninib ; E-U-gal, ' the house of the great
lord,' a temple to En-lil. A name like E-edinna, ' house of the
field,' a temple to the consort of Shamash at Sippar, may also
have been suggested by some attribute of the goddess.4
1 Or tush. Cf. Briinnow, Sign List, no. 10523.
2 Or ab. See Jensen, Keils Bibl. 3, i, pp. 15, 173. 3 See above, p. 57.
4 Compare the name ' Belit-seri,' ' mistress of the fields,' as the name of a goddess
who belongs to the pantheon of the lower world. See p. 588.
7 '///;' TEMri.ES AND THE CULT. 641
Lastly, we have a class of names that might be described as
purely ornamental, or as embodying a pious wish. Of such we
have a large number. Examples of this class are E-tila, ' house
of life.' Names extolling the glory and splendor of the temples
are common. In a list of temples l we find such designations
as ' house of light,' ' house of the brilliant precinct,' ' great place,'
' lofty and brilliant wall,'2 ' house of great splendor,7 ' the splen-
dor of heaven and earth,' 'house without a rival,' Might of
Shamash.' The seat of Sarpanitum in E-Sagila, is known as
'the gate of widespread splendor'; E-salgisa, 'the treasury,'
as the name of a temple in Girsu, may belong here. A temple
to Gula in Sippar was called E-ulla ; that is, ' the beautiful
house.' The old temple to Sin at Harran bore the significant
name E-khulkhul, 'house of joys,' while the pious wish of the
worshipper is again expressed in the name ' threshold of long
life,' given to the zikkurat in Sippar.3 Among a series of names,4
illustrating the religious sentiments of the people are the fol-
lowing : ' the heart of Shamash,' ' the house of hearkening to
prayers,'5 'the house full of joy,' 'the brilliant house,' 'the life
of the world,' ' the place of fates,' and the like.
These various classes of names are a valuable index of the
varied and often remarkable conceptions held of the gods. To
call a temple, for example, ' court of the world ' G may have
been due originally to a haughty presumption on the part of
some one deeply attached to some god ; but such a name must
also have led to regarding the god as not limited in his affec-
tions to a particular district. Whatever tendencies existed in
Babylonia and Assyria towards universalistic conceptions of
1 IIR. 61, nos. i, 2, 6.
2 Text, Kar, i.e., ' dam,' ' wall,' or ' quay.'
3 IIR. 50, 1. 8.
4 Iiezold Catalogue, etc., p. 1776.
6 One is reminded of Isaiah's sentiment (Ivi. 7) regarding the temple of Yahwe,
which is to be called ' a house of prayer for the world.'
6 Lit., ' enclosure.'
642 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
the divine beings were brought out in the temple names, and in
part may have been advanced by these names. The custom
still surviving in the Jewish Church of giving names to syna-
gogues may be traced back to a Babylonian prototype.1
THE HISTORY OF THE TEMPLES.
The history of the temples takes us back to the earliest
period of Babylonian history, and the temples of Assyria like-
wise date from the small beginnings of the Assyrian power.
The oldest inscriptions of Mesopotamian rulers commemorate
their services as builders of temples. Naram-Sin and Sargon
glory in the title ' builder of the temple of En-lil in Nippur.'
Of the rulers of the first period of Babylonian history, it so
happens that we know more of Gudea than of any other. We
may feel certain that he but follows the example of his prede-
cessors, in devoting so large a share of his energies to temple
building. Hammurabi is an active builder of sanctuaries, and
so on, through the period of Assyrian supremacy down to the
closing days of the Babylonian monarchy, the thoughts of the
rulers were directed towards honoring the gods by improving,
restoring, rebuilding, or enlarging the sanctuaries, as well as by
endowing them with rich gifts and votive offerings. The Assyrian
kings, though perhaps more concerned with embellishing their
palaces, do not neglect the seats of the gods. Anxious to
maintain the connection between their kingdom and the old
cities of the south, the Assyrian monarchs were fond of paying
homage to the time-honored sanctuaries of Babylonia. This
feeling, which is of course shared by the Babylonian rulers,
results in bringing about the continuity of the Babylonian and
1 The synagogue is called a ' house ' just as the Babylonian temple is, and among
names of synagogues (or of congregations) in modern times that form close parallels
to the names of Babylonian temples may be instanced ' house of prayer,' ' glory of
Israel,' ' tree of life.' The custom of naming Christian churches after the apostles
represents a further development along the order of ideas current in Babylonia.
THE TEMPLES AND THE CULT. 643
Assyrian religion. If, despite the changes that the religious
doctrines underwent, despite the new interpretations given to
old myths and legends, despite the profound changes introduced
into the relationship of the gods to one another through the
systematization of the pantheon, if, despite all this, the Babylo-
nians and Assyrians — leaders and people — continued to feel
that they were following the religion of their forefathers, it was
due to the maintenance of the old sanctuaries. We can actu-
ally trace the history of some of these sanctuaries for a period
of over 3000 years. In their restorations, the later builders
were careful not to offend the memory of their predecessors.
They sought out the old dedicatory inscriptions, and took steps
to preserve them. They rejoiced when they came upon the old
foundation stones. In their restorations they were careful to
follow original designs ; and likewise in the cult, so far from
deviating from established custom, they strongly emphasized
their desire to restore the cult to its original character, wherever
an interruption for one reason or the other had taken place.
In all this, the rulers were acting in accord with the popular
instincts, for the masses clung tenaciously to the old sanc-
tuaries, as affording an unfailing means of protection against
the ills and accidents of life.
To enumerate all the temples of Babylonia and Assyria
would be both an impossible and a useless task. Besides
those mentioned in the historical texts and in the legal litera-
ture, we have long lists of temples prepared by the pedagogues.
Some of these lists have been published ; l others are to be
found among the unpublished material in the British Museum
collections.2 It is doubtful whether even these catalogues were
exhaustive, or aimed at being so ; moreover, a large number of
gods are known to us only from the lists of the pedagogues.3
1 E.g., IIR. 50 (zikkurats) ; IIR. 61 ; IIIR. 66.
2 See Bezold Catalogue, etc., p. 1 776 and elsewhere.
3 E.g., IIR. 54-60 ; 111R. 67-69 ; VR. 43, 46.
644 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
So, to mention some, taken from a valuable list l which gives
chiefly the names of foreign gods, together with the places where
they were worshipped, we learn of such gods as Lagamal, Mag-
arida, Lasimu, A-ishtu, Bulala, Katnu, Kannu, Kishshat, Kani-
shurra, Khiraitum. Knowing, as we do, that at various periods
foreign deities were introduced into Babylonia and Assyria,2 it
was necessary to make some provision for their cult ; and, while
no doubt most of these minor deities and foreign gods were
represented only by statues placed in some temple or temple
precinct, it is equally certain that some had a shrine or sanc-
tuary of some kind specially erected in their honor. In
hymns, too, deities are mentioned that are otherwise unknown.
So in a litany, published by Craig,3 a long series of gods is
introduced. Some are identical with those included in the list
just referred to,4 others appear here for the first time, as Mishiru,
Kilili Ishi-milku. Epithets also occur in lists and hymns,
that appear to belong to deities otherwise unknown. We are
safe, therefore, in estimating the number of temples, zikkurats,
and smaller shrines in Babylonia and Assyria to have reached
high into the hundreds. Sanctuaries must have covered the
Euphrates Valley like a network. By virtue of the older cul-
ture of the south and the greater importance that Babylonia
always enjoyed from a religious point of view, the sanctuaries
of the south were much more numerous than those of the
north. For our purposes, it is sufficient to indicate some of
the most important of the temples of the south and north.
The oldest known to us at present is the frequently mentioned
temple of E-Kur at Nippur, sacred to En-lil or the older Bel.
Its history can be carried back to a period beyond 4000 B.C. ;
how far beyond cannot be determined until the early chronology
1 IIR. 60, no. i, obverse.
2 See p. 172. Some of the gods invoked by Sennacherib (see p. 238), as Gaga,
Sherua, and perhaps also Khani, are foreign deities.
3 Assyrian and Babylonian Religious Texts, i. 56-59.
4 As Lagamal, Kanishurra.
THE TEMPLES AND THE CULT. 645
is better known than at present. We know, however, that from
the time of Sargon 1 -and probably even much earlier, the rulers
who had control of Nippur devoted themselves to the embel-
lishment of the temple area. Climatic conditions necessitated
frequent repairs. The temple also suffered occasionally through
political tumults, but with each century the religious importance
of E-Kur was increased. Ur-Bau, we have seen, about 2700 i:.c.,
erected a zikkurat in .the temple area. Some centuries later
we find Bur-Sin repairing the zikkurat and adding a shrine near
the main structure. As the political fortunes of Nippur varied,
so E-Kur had its ups and downs. Under the Cassitic rule, an
attempt was made to recover for Nippur the position which it
formerly occupied, but which had now passed over to Babylon.
It was of little avail. Bel had to yield to Marduk, and yet,
despite the means that the priests of Marduk took to transfer
Bel's prerogatives to the new head of the pantheon, the rulers
would not risk the anger of Bel by a neglect of E-Kur. Kuri-
galzu, a king of the Cassite dynasty (c. 1400 B.C.) brings back
from Elam2 a votive object which, originally deposited by Dungi
in the Ishtar temple at Erech, was carried to Susa by an Ela-
mitic conqueror about 900 years before Kurigalzu. The latter
deposits this object not in Marduk's temple at Babylon, but in
Bel's sanctuary at Nippur. During the entire Cassitic period,
the kings continued to build or make repairs in the temple pre-
cinct, and almost every ruler is represented by more or less
costly votive offerings made to Bel's sanctuary. In this way,
we can follow the history of the temple down to the Assyrian
period. In the twelfth century the religious supremacy of
E-Kur yields permanently to E-Sagila. The temple is sacked,
part of it is destroyed, and it was left to rulers of the north
like Esarhaddon and Ashurbanabal to once more restore E-Kur
1 See Peters' Nippur, ii. chapter x, " The History of Nippur."
2 Ib. ii. 260. (Published in Hilprecht's Old Babylonian Inscriptions, i. i. pi. 21,
no. 43. See also pi. 8, no. 15.)
646 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
and its dependencies to its former proportions. These kings,
especially the latter, devote much time and energy in rebuild-
ing the zikkurat and in erecting various buildings connected
with the temple administration. Under the new Babylonian
dynasty, however, E-Kur was again destroyed, and this time
by the ruthless hands of southern rulers. Nebuchadnezzar, so
devoted to Marduk and Nabu, appears to have regarded E-Kur
as a serious rival to E-Sagila and E-Zida. Some traces of
building operations at E-Kur appear to date from the Persian
period, but, practically, the history of E-Kur comes to an end
at the close of the seventh century. The sanctity of the place,
however, remained ; a portion of the old city becomes a favor-
ite burial site, while other parts continue to be inhabited till
the twelfth century of our era. The city of Bel becomes the
seat of a Christian bishop, and Jewish schools take the place
once occupied by the " star-gazers of Chaldea."
The history of E-Kur, so intimately bound up with political
events, may be taken as an index of the fortunes that befell
the other prominent sanctuaries of Babylonia.
The foundation of the Shamash temple at Sippar, and known
as E-Babbara, ' the brilliant house,' can likewise be traced as
far back as the days of Naram-Sin. At that time there was
already a sanctuary to Anunit within the precincts of E-Bab-
bara. Members of the Cassite dynasty devote themselves to
the restoration of this sanctuary. Through a subsequent inva-
sion of the nomads, the cult was interrupted and the great
statue of Shamash destroyed. Several attempts are made to
reorganize the cult, but it was left for Nabubaliddin in the
tenth century to restore E-Babbara to its former prestige.
Esarhaddon and Ashurbanabal, who pay homage to the old
Bel at Nippur, also devote themselves to Shamash at Sippar.
They restore such portions of it as had suffered from the lapse
of time and from other causes. Nebuchadnezzar is obliged to
rebuild parts of E-Babbara, and the last king of Babylonia,
THE TEMPLES AND THE CULT. 647
Nabonnedos, is so active in his building operations at Sippar
that he arouses the anger of the priests of Babylon, who feel
that their ruler is neglecting the sanctuaries of1 Marduk and
Nabu. It is through Nabonnedos x and Nabubaliddin,2 chiefly,
that we learn many of the details of the history of E-Babbara
during this long period.
Of the other important temples that date from the early
period of Babylonian history, we must content ourselves with
brief indications.
The temple to Shamash at Larsa, while not quite as old as
that of Sippar, was quite as famous. Its name was likewise
E-Babbara. It is first mentioned in the inscriptions of Ur-Bau
(c. 2700 B.C.), and it continues to enjoy the favor of the rulers
till the Persian conquest.3
The two chief places for the moon-cult were Ur and
Harran. The name of Sin's temple4 at the former place was
E-Gish-shir-gal, ' the house of the great light ' ; at the latter,
Erkhulklul, * the house of joys.' Around both sanctuaries,
but particularly around the former, cluster sacred traditions.
We have seen that the moon-cult at an early period enjoyed
greater importance than sun-worship. The temples of Sin
were centers of intellectual activity. It is in these places that
we may expect some day to find elaborate astronomical and
astrological records. Harran, indeed, does not appear at any
time to have played any political role 5 (though it was overrun
occasionally by nomads), so that the significance of the place
is due almost entirely to the presence of the great temple at
1 VR. 63. 2 VR. pis. 60, 61.
3 So, e.g., as late as the days of Nebopolassar (Scheil, Recueildes Travat(x,xviii.
16).
4 Besides this temple, there were two others, perhaps only chapels, dedicated to Sin
at Ur : (a) E-te-im-ila (mentioned first by Ur-Bau, IR. pi. i, no 4), and (l>) E-Kharsag
(mentioned first by Dungi, IR. 2, II. no. 2). The zikkurat at Ur had, of course, a
special name (IIR. 50, obverse 18).
5 See Noldeke, Z.eitschrift fur Assyriologie, xi. 107-109. Hilprecht's theory (Old
Babylonian Inscriptions, i. 2, 55) has not been accepted by scholars.
648 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
the place. It is Nabonnedos,1 again, who endeavors to restore
the ancient prestige of the sanctuary at Harran. E-anna,
' the lofty house,' was the name of Ishtar's famous temple
at Erech. The mention of this temple in one of the creation
narratives 2 and the part played by Ishtar of Erech in the Gil-
gamesh epic are sufficient indications of the significance of
this structure. Historical inscriptions from the earliest period
to the days of Ashurbanabal and Nebuchadnezzar come to our
further aid in illustrating the continued popularity of the Ishtar
cult in E-anna. The Ishtar who survives in Babylonia and
Assyria is practically the Ishtar of Erech, — that is, Nana.3
Passing by such sanctuaries as E-shid-lam, sacred to Nergal
at Cuthah, and coming to E-Sagila and E-Zida, the two great
temples of Babylon and Borsippa, respectively, it is of course
evident from the close connection between political develop-
ment and religious supremacy, that Marduk's seat of worship
occupies a unique position from the days of Hammurabi to
the downfall of Babylonia. While the history of E-Sagila and
E-Zida cannot be traced back further than the reign of Ham-
murabi, the temples themselves are considerably older. Pre-
vious to the rise of the city of Babylon as the political center,
the Nabu cult in E-Zida must have been more prominent than
the worship of Marduk in E-Sagila. Marduk was merely one
solar deity among several, and a minor one at that, whereas
the attributes of wisdom given to Nabu point to the intellec-
tual importance that Borsippa had acquired. The Nabu cult
was combined with the worship of Marduk simply because it
could not be suppressed. At various times, as we have seen,4
Nabu formed a serious rival to Marduk, and it will be recalled
that up to a late period we find Nabu given the preference to
Marduk in official documents.5 The inseparable association of
1 VR. 64, col. i. 3-9 ; col. ii. 46.
2 See p. 444. 4 See pp. 126 seq.
3 See p. 81. 5 See p. 129.
Y '//A TEMri.KS AND THE CULT. 649
E-Sagila and E-Zida is a tribute to Nabu which, we may feel
certain, the priests of Marduk did not offer willingly. But this
association becomes the leading feature 'in the history of the
two temples. To pay homage to Marduk and Nabu meant
something quite different from making a pilgrimage to the seat
of Bel or presenting a gift to the Shamash sanctuary at Sippar.
It was an acknowledgment of Babylonia's prestige. The
Assyrian rulers regarded it as both a privilege and a solemn
duty to come to Babylon and invoke the protection of Marduk
and Nabu. In E-Sagila the installation of the rulers over Baby-
lonia took place, and a visit to Marduk's temple was incom-
plete without a pilgrimage across the river to E-Zida. The
influence exerted by these two temples upon the whole course
of Babylonian history from the third millennium on, can hardly
be overestimated. From the schools grouped around E-Sagila
and E-Zida, went forth the decrees that shaped the doctrinal
development of the religion of Babylonia and Assyria. In
these schools, the ancient wisdom was molded into the shape in
which we find it in the literary remains of the Euphrates Valley.
Here the past was interpreted and the intellectual future of the
country projected. The thought of E-Sagila and E-Zida must
have stored up emotions in the breast of a Babylonian and
Assyrian, that can only be compared to a pious Mohammedan's
enthusiasm for Mecca, or the longing of an ardent Hebrew for
Jerusalem. The hymns to Marduk and Nabu voice this emo-
tion. There is a fervency in the prayers of Nebuchadnezzar
which marks them off from the somewhat perfunctory invoca-
tions of the Assyrian kings to Ashur and Ishtar. An appreci-
ation of the position of E-Sagila and E-Zida in Babylonian
history is an essential condition to an understanding of the
Babylonian-Assyrian religion. The priests of Marduk could
view with equanimity the rise and growth of Assyria's power.
The influence of E-Sagila and E-Zida was not affected by such
a shifting of the political kaleidoscope. Babylon remained the
650 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
religious center of the country. When one day, a Persian con-
queror — Cyrus — entered the precincts of E-Sagila, his first step
was to acknowledge Marduk and Nabu as the supreme powers
in the world ; and the successors of Alexander continue to glory
in the title ' adorner of E-Sagila and E-Zida.' l With the same
zeal that distinguishes a good Babylonian, Antiochus Soter
hastens to connect his reign with the two temples by busying
himself with their enlargement and beautification. There was
no better way in which he could indicate, at the same time, his
political control over the country.
One more factor contributing to the general influence of the
Babylonian temples remains to be noted. In the course of
time, all the great temples in the large centers became large
financial establishments. The sources whence the temples
derived their wealth were various. The kings both of Babylo-
nia and Assyria took frequent occasions to endow the sanctu-
aries with lands or other gifts. At times, the endowment took
the form of certain quantities of wine, corn, oil, fruits, and the
like, for which annual provision is made ; at times, the harvest
derived from a piece of property is set aside for the benefit of
the temple. In other ways, too, the temples acquired large
holdings, through purchases of land made from the income
accruing to it, and from the tithes which it became customary
to collect. This property was either farmed through the author-
ities of the temple for the direct benefit of the sanctuary, or
was rented out to private parties under favorable conditions.
We learn of large bodies of laborers indentured to temples, as
well as of slaves owned or controlled by the temples. These
workmen were engaged for various purposes, — for building
operations, for service in the fields, for working raw material,
such as wool, into finished products, and much more the like.
But, more than this, the temples engaged directly in commercial
affairs, lending sums of money and receiving interest. In some
1 So Antiochus Soter, VR. 66, col. i. 1. 3.
THE TEMPLES AND THE CULT. 651
sanctuaries, a thriving business of barter and exchange was
carried on. Crops are sold, houses are rented by the temple
agents, and there was scarcely an avenue of commerce into
which the temples did not enter. An active business was also
carried on in the manufacture and sale of idols, votive offerings,
amulets, and the like. A very large number of the legal docu-
ments found in the Babylonian mounds deal with the business
affairs of the temples.1 Such a state of affairs naturally con-
tributed towards making the temples important establishments
and towards increasing the influence of the priests over the
people.
The temples of Assyria play a minor part in the religious
life of rulers and people. True, grand structures were reared in
Ashur, Calah, Nineveh, and Arbela, and no important step was
taken by the kings without consulting Ashur, Ishtar, or Ram-
man through the mediation of the priests. The great cities of
Assyria also become intellectual centers. The priests of Arbela
created a school of theological thought, but all these efforts
were but weak imitations of the example furnished by the tem-
ples of the south. Even Ashurbanabal, whose ambition was to
make Nineveh the center of religious and intellectual progress,
failed of his purpose. His empire soon fell to decay, and
with that decay Nineveh disappears from the stage of history.
Babylon and Borsippa, however, remain, and continue to hand
down to succeeding generations, the wisdom of the past.
THE SACRED OBJECTS IN THE TEMPLES, — ALTARS, VASES,
IMAGES, BASINS, SHIPS.
The earliest altars were made of the same material as the
zikkurats and sanctuaries. One found at Nippur at an
1 For a further account of the financial side of the temple establishments, see
Peiser's excellent remarks in his Babylonische Vertrdge des Berliner Museums,
pp. xvii-xxix.
652 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
exceedingly low level was of sun-dried bricks.1 How early
this material was replaced by stone, we are not in a position to
say. Gudea, who imports diorite from the Sinai Peninsula to
make statues 2 of himself, presumably uses a similar material
for the sacred furnishings of his temples, though custom and
conventionality may have maintained the use of the older clay
material for some time. In Assyria, altars of limestone and
alabaster became the prevailing types. The shape and size of
the altars varied considerably. The oldest known to us, the one
found at Nippur, was about twelve feet long and half as wide.
The upper surface was surrounded by a rim of bitumen.3 As-
syrian altars now in the British museum are from two to three
feet high. The ornamentation of the corners of the rim of the
altar led to giving the altar the appearance of horns.4 The
base of the altar was either a solid piece with a circular or
oblong plate resting on it, or the table rested on a tripod.5
The latter species was well adapted for being transported from
place to place by the Assyrian kings, who naturally were
anxious to maintain the worship of Ashur and of other gods
while on their military expeditions. Much care was spent upon
the ornamentation of the altars, and, if we may believe Herod-
otus, the great altars at Babylon were made of gold.6 In front
of the altars stood large vases or jars of terra cotta, used for
ablutions and other purposes in connection with the sacrifices.
Two such jars, one behind the other, were found at Nippur.
They were ornamented with rope patterns, and the depth at
which they were found is an indication of the antiquity and
1 Hilprecht, Old Babylonian Inscriptions, i. 2, p. 24.
2 Nine magnificent diorite statues of Gudea were found by De Sarzec at Telloh.
3 Ashes — the trace of sacrifices — were also found on the altar.
4 See the illustrations in Perrot and Chipiez, History of Art in Chaldea, etc.,
i. 143, 255. Similar horns existed on the Hebrew and Phoenician altars.
5 See the illustrations in Perrot and Chipiez, i&., i. 194, 256, 257. On seal cylinders
altar titles are frequently represented.
6 Book i. sec. 183.
THE TEMPLES AND THE CULT. 653
stability of the forms of worship in the Babylonian temples.
It may be proper to recall that in the Solomonic temple, like-
wise, there were a series of jars that stood near the great altar
in the large court.1
A piece of furniture to which great religious importance was
attached was a great basin known as ' apsu/ — the name, it
will be recalled, for 'the deep.' The name indicates that it
was a symbolical representation of the domain of Ea. In
Gudea's days the symbol is already known,2 and it continues in
use to the end of the Babylonian empire. The zikkurat itself
being, as we saw, an attempt to reproduce the shape of the
earth, the representation of the ' apsu ' would suggest itself as
a natural accessory to the temple. The zikkurat and the basin
together would thus become living symbols of the current cos-
mological conceptions. Gudea already regards the zikkurat as
a symbol. To make the ascent is a virtuous deed.3 The
thought of adding a symbol of the apsu belongs, accordingly,
to the period when this view of the zikkurat was generally
recognized. The shape of the e sea ' was oblong or round. It
was cut of large blocks of stone and was elaborately decorated.
One of the oldest4 has a frieze of female figures on it, holding
in their outstretched hands flagons from which they pour water.
In Marduk's temple we learn that there were two basins, —
a larger and a smaller one. The comparison with the great
' sea ' that stood in the court of Solomon's temple naturally
suggests itself, and there can be little doubt that the latter is
an imitation of a Babylonian model.
Another sacred object in the construction of which much
care was taken was the ship in which the deity was carried in
1 See Schick, Die Stiftshiitte, etc., pp. 119 seq.
2 Kcils Bill. 3, i, p. 13 ; see also p. 89.
3 Inscription G, col. i. 11. 15-17. See p. 621.
4 Described in De Sarzec's Decouvertcs en Chaldee, pp. 216, 217. For other speci-
mens, see i/>. pp. 106, 171 ; and see also Hilprecht, Old Babylonian Inscriptions,
i. 2, p. 39, note.
654 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
solemn procession. It is again in the inscriptions of Gudea l
that we come across the first mention of this ship. This ruler
tells us that he built the 'beloved ship' for Nin-girsu, and
gave it the name Kar-nuna-ta-uddua, the ship of ' the one that
rises up out of the dam of the deep.' The ship of Nabu is of
considerable size, and is fitted out with a captain and crew,
has masts and compartments.2 The ship resembled a moon's
crescent, not differing much, therefore, from the ordinary flat-
bottomed Babylonian boat with upturned edges. Through Neb-
uchadnezzar 3 we learn that these ships were brilliantly studded
with precious stones, their compartments handsomely fitted out,
and that in them the gods were carried in solemn procession on
the festivals celebrated in their honor.4 A long list5 of such
ships shows that it was a symbol that belonged to all the great
gods. The ships of Nin-lil, Ea, Marduk, Sin, Shamash, Nabu,
Ninib, Bau, Nin-gal, and of others are specially mentioned. A
custom of this kind of carrying the gods in ships must have orig-
inated, of course, among a maritime people. We may trace it
back, therefore, to the very early period when the sacred cities
of Babylonia lay on the Persian Gulf. The use of the ships also
suggests, that the solemn procession of the gods was originally
on water and not on land, and it is likely that this excursion
of the gods symbolized some homage to the chief water-deity,
Ea. However this may be, the early significance became lost,
but the custom survived in Babylonia of carrying the gods
about in this way. In Assyria, less wedded to ancient tradi-
tion, we find statues of the gods seated on thrones or standing
upright, carried directly on the shoulders of men.6 In Egypt
sacred ships are very common, and it is interesting to note as
1 Inscription D, col. iiir 1-12.
2 See Winckler's note, Keils Bibl. 3, 2, p. 16.
8 IR. 54, col. iii. 1. 10.
4 Il>. 55, col. iv. 11. i, 2.
5 I IK. 6 1. no. 2, obverse.
6 See Perrot and Chipiez, History of Art in CJialdea and Assyria, i. 75, 76.
THE TEAiri.ES AND THE CULT. 655
a survival of the old Babylonian and Egyptian custom that an
annual gift sent by the khediye of Egypt to Mecca consists of
a tabernacle, known as Mahmal, that presents the outlines of a
ship.1 The ark of the Hebrews appears, similarly, to have been
originally a ship of some kind.
The ships of the Babylonian gods had names given to them,
just as the towers and sanctuaries had their names. The name
of Nin-girsu's ship has already been mentioned. Marduk's
ship was appropriately known as Ma-ku-a, * the ship of the
dwelling.' 2 Similarly, a ship of the god Sin was called * ship
of light,' reminding one of the name of the great temple to the
moon-god at Ur, ' the house of the great luminary.' The ship of
Nin-gal, the consort of Sin, was called * the lesser light.' Bau's
ship was described by an epithet of the goddess as ' the ship
of the brilliant offspring,' the reference being to the descent of
the goddess from father Anu.3 These illustrations will suffice
to show the dependence of the names of the ships upon the
names of the temples, with this important difference, however,
that the names of the ships are chosen from a closer associa-
tion with the gods to whom they belong. So a ship of En-lil
was known simply as ' the ship of Bel,' and the ship of Naru,4
the river-god, was called ' the ship of the Malku (or royal)
canal ' 5 — an indication, at the same time, of the place where
the cult of Naru was carried on.
THE PRIESTS AND PRIESTESSES.
At a certain stage in the religious development of a people,
the priesthood is closely linked to political leadership. The
1 See the illustration in Snouck-Hurgronje Mckka, pi. V.
2 /.£., of the god, E-Kua being the name of the sacred chamber in Marduk's
temple at Babylon. See p. 629, note i.
3 See p. 60.
4 See p. 282.
5 The largest canal in Babylonia.
656 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
earliest form of government in the Euphrates Valley is theo-
cratic, and we can still discern some of the steps in the process
that led to the differentiation of the priest from the secular
ruler. To the latest times, the kings retain among their titles
some1 which have reference to the religious functions once
exercised by them. The king who continued to be regarded as
the representative of a god, nominated by some deity to a lofty
position of trust and power, stood nearer to the gods than his
subjects. In a certain sense, the king remained the priest par
excellence. Hence the prominent part played by the ruler in
the religious literature of the country. A large proportion of
the hymns were composed for royalty. The most elaborate
ritual dealt with the endeavor to secure oracles that might
serve as a guide for the rulers. Astronomical reports were
made and long series of omen tablets prepared for the use of
the royal household. The calendars furnished regulations for
the conduct of the kings. A ceremonial error, an offence
against the gods on the part of the kings, was certain of
being followed by disastrous consequences for the whole
country.
But even the smallest sanctuaries required some service, and
it was not long before the religious interests were entrusted into
the hands of those who devoted themselves to administering the
affairs of the temples. The guardians of the shrines became
the priests in fact, long before the priesthood of the rulers
became little more than a theory ; and as the temples grew to
larger proportions, the service was divided up among various
classes of priests.
The general name for priests was shangu, which, by a plausible
etymology suggested by Jensen,2 indicates the function of the
priest as the one who presides over the sacrifices. But this
1 E.g., ishakku.
2 Ska and naku, i.e., ' the one over the sacrifice.' Zeitschrift fur Assyriologic, vii.
174, note.
THE TEMPLES AND THE CULT. 657
function represents only one phase of the priestly office in
Babylonia, and not the most important one, by any means.
For the people, the priest was primarily the one who could drive
evil demons out of the body of the person smitten with disease,
who could thwart the power of wizards and witches, who could
ward off the attacks of mischievous spirits, or who could prog-
nosticate the future and determine the intention or the will
of the gods. The offering of sacrifices was one of the means
to accomplish this end, but it is significant that many of the
names used to designate the priestly classes have reference to
the priest's position as the exerciser of evil spirts or his power
'to secure a divine oracle or to foretell the future, and not to
his function as sacrifices Such names are mashmashu, the
general term for ' the charmer ' ; kalii, so called, perhaps, as
the ' restrainer ' of the demons, the one who keeps them in
check; lagarit, a synonym of kalu ; makhkhii, 'soothsayer';
siirrfij a term which is still obscure ; sh&ilu, the ' inquirer,' who
obtains an oracle through the dead or through the gods ;
mushehi, 'necromancer'; ashipu or ishippn, 'sorcerer.'1 These
names probably do not exhaust the various kinds of 'magicians '
that were to be found among the Babylonian priests. In the
eighteenth chapter of Deuteronomy, no less than eleven classes
of magic workers are enumerated, and there can be little doubt
but that the Pentateuchal opposition against the necromancers,
sorcerers, soothsayers, and the like is aimed chiefly against
Babylonish customs. We have seen in previous chapters how
largely the element of magic enters into the religious rites and
literature of the Babylonian- Assyrian religion and how persistent
an element it is. For the masses, the priest remained essentially
a mashmashu. But we have also names like ramku and nisakku,
' libation pourer,' which emphasize the sacrificial functions of
1 That these terms represent classes of priests is indicated by the fact that the
abstract derivatives shangiitu, kalutu, ishipputu, and also ramkutu (see below) are
used as general terms for priesthood.
658 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
the priest ; and in an interesting list of temple servitors,1 ' the
dirge singers ' are introduced as a special class, and appropri-
ately designated as munambd, ' wailer,' and lallaru, * howler.' Of
some terms in this list, like asinnu, it is doubtful whether they
indicate a special class of priests or are terms for servitors in
general, attached to a temple ; in the case of others, like nash
pilakki, * ax carrier,' we do not know exactly of what nature the
service was.2 Lastly, priests in their capacity as scribes3 and
as judges 4 formed another distinct class, though it should be
noted that in Assyria we meet with scribes occasionally who
are not priests.5
The range thus covered by the temple service, — magic, ora-
cles, sacrifices, the lament for the dead, and the judiciary, — is
exceedingly large. The subdivisions, no doubt, varied in each
center. In the smaller sanctuaries, those who offered the sac-
rifices may also have served as soothsayers and dirge singers,
and the judicial functions may likewise have been in the same
hands as those who performed other services. On the other
hand, in a temple like E-Sagila the classes and subclasses must
have been very numerous. Of the details of the organization
we as yet know very little. There was a high priest, known as
the shangam-makhu? and from the existence of a title like
sur-makhti, — that is, the chief surru? — we may conclude
that each class of priests had its chief likewise. With the
natural tendency in ancient civilizations for professions to be-
come vested in families, the priests in the course of time
became a caste ; but there is no reason to believe that entrance
into this caste was only possible through the accident of birth.
That instruction in the reading and writing of the cuneiform
characters, and hence the introduction into the literature, was
1 IIR. 32, no. 3. 5 E.g., IIIR. 48, no. 6, 11. 26, 27.
2 ' A spear carrier of Marduk ' occurs in contract tablets.
3 Dupsharru. 6 Shangu = priest ; tnakhu = great.
4 Daianu. 7 See above, p. 657.
THE TEMPLES AND THE CULT. 659
open to others than the scions of priests is shown by the pres-
ence in the legal literature of formal contracts for instruction
between teachers and pupils who belong to the * laity.' These
pupils could become scribes and judges, and their standing as
'priests' represented merely the Babylonian equivalent to a
modern university degree. For such service as the bewailing
of the dead and as musicians, persons were initiated who were
taken from various classes and likewise for the menial duties
of the temples, and it is only when we come to the more dis-
tinctive priestly functions, like the exorcising of evil spirits,
securing an oracle, or performing sacrifices, that the rules lim-
iting these privileges to certain families were iron bound. As
among the Hebrews and other nations, stress was laid also
upon freedom from physical, blemishes in the case of the
priests. The leper, we learn, was not fit for the priesthood.1
In the astronomical reports that were spoken of in a previous
chapter,2 there are references to the ' watches ' kept by the
astronomers. These watches, however, were probably not
observed for astronomical purposes alone, but represent the
time division, as among the Hebrews, for the temple service.
There were three night watches among the Babylonians,3 and,
in all probability, therefore, three day watches likewise.
Relays of priests were appointed in the large sanctuaries for
service during the continuance of each watch, and we may
some day find that the Hebrews obtained their number of
twenty-four priests for each ' watch ' from a custom prevailing
in some Babylonian temple.
An interesting feature of the Babylonian priesthood is the
position occupied by the woman. In the historical texts from
the days of Hammurabi onward, the references to women
1 Delitzsch, Assyr. Hand-wortcrbuch, p. 149!).
2 See pp. 356 seq.
8 On these night watches, see Delitzsch's article in the '/.citschrift fur Kcilschrift-
forschung, ii. 284-294.
660 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
attached to the service of temples are not infrequent. Gudea
expressly mentions the 'wailing women,' and there is every
reason to believe that the female wailers, like the male ones,
belong to some priestly class. Again, examples of women as
exorcisers and as furnishing oracles l may be instanced in
Babylonia as well as in Assyria, and we have also references to
female musicians as late as the days of Ashurbanabal. A
specially significant role was played by the priestesses in
Ishtar's temple at Erech, and probably at other places where
the cult of the great mother goddess was carried on. The
Ishtar priestess was known by the general term of Kadishtu,—
that is, 'the holy one,' — or Ishtaritum, 'devoted to Ishtar';
but, from the various other names for the sacred harlot that we
come across,2 it would appear that the priestesses were divided
into various classes, precisely like the priests. That in the
ceremonies of initiation at Erech, and perhaps elsewhere,
some rites were observed that on the surface appeared obscene
is eminently likely ; but there is no evidence that obscene
rites, as instanced by Herodotus, formed part of the regular
cult of the goddess. Except in the case of the Ishtar wor-
ship, the general observation may be made that the position of
the priestess is more prominent in the early period of Baby-
lonian history than in the days when the culture and power of
Babylonia and Assyria reached its zenith.
SACRIFICES AND VOTIVE OFFERINGS.
The researches of Robertson Smith3 and of others have
shown that the oldest Semitic view of sacrifice was that of a
meal, shared by the worshipper with the deity to be honored or
1 See above, pp. 267, 343.
2 Kharimtu, Kizritu, Ukhatu, Shamukttt. See II R. 32, no. 2, 11. 31-36, and
above, pp. 475, 484.
3 See his article on " Sacrifice " in the gth edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica
and his Religion of the Semites, Lectures VI-XJ,
THE TEMPLES AND THE CULT. 661
propitiated. Dependent as we are in the case of the Baby-
lonian-Assyrian religion for our knowledge of sacrifices upon
incidental references in historical or religious texts, it is not
possible to say how far the Semitic dwellers of the Euphrates
Valley were influenced by the primitive conception of sacrifice.
Historical and votive inscriptions and a religious literature
belong to a comparatively advanced stage of culture, and
earlier views of sacrifice that may have existed were necessarily
modified in the process of adaptation to later conditions. The
organization of an elaborate cult with priests and numerous
temple servitors changes the sacrifices into a means of income
for the temple. The deity's representatives receive the share
originally intended for the deity himself ; and, instead of
sanctifying the offering to a god by contact with the sacred
element fire, the temple accepts the offering for its own use.
It is likely, however, that among the Babylonians, as among
the Hebrews, certain parts of the animal which were not fit to
eat l were burned as a symbolical homage to a god. No refer-
ences have as yet been found pointing to any special sanctity
that was attached to the blood; but it is eminently likely that
the blood was regarded at all times as the special property of
the gods, and was poured on the altar. The two kinds of
sacrifice — animals and vegetable products — date from the
earliest period of the Babylonian religion of which we have
any knowledge. In a long list of offerings, Gudea2 includes
oxen, sheep, goats, lambs, fish, birds (as eagles, cranes,3 etc.),
and also such products as dates, milk, and greens. From
other sources we may add gazelles, date wine, butter, cream,
honey, garlic, corn, herbs, oil, spices, and incense. Stress is
laid upon the quality of the sacrifice.4 The animals must be
1 So in the regulations of the priestly code (Lev. iii. 14-17).
2 Inscription G, cols, iii-vi.
3 Hardly ' roosters,' as Jensen (Kosmologie, p. 517) proposes.
4 See, e.g., Gudea, Inscription F, cols, iii, iv.
662 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
without blemish, and if well nurtured, they would be all the
more pleasing in the sight of the gods. The omission of dogs
and swine is not accidental. Under that double aspect of
sanctity which we find among the Babylonians as among so
many nations, certain animals were too sacred to be offered,
and, on the other hand, they were regarded as unclean.1 In
treating of the omen texts we already had occasion to speak of
the peculiar ideas attached to the dog by the Babylonians,2
and there is sufficient evidence to show that the boar likewise
was viewed as a sacred animal, at least in certain parts of
Babylonia.3 • No certain traces of human sacrifices have been
found, either in Babylonian literature or in artistic representa-
tions.4 If the rite was ever practised among the Babylonians
or Assyrians it must have been at a very early period — earlier
than any of which we as yet have any knowledge. On the
other hand, a trace of some primitive form of tree worship may
be recognized in the representation, so frequent on seal cylin-
ders and monuments, of curious figures, in part human, in part
animal, standing in front of the palm tree.5 The symbol
belongs to Assyria as well as to Babylonia. In some of the
designs the figures — human heads and bodies but furnished
with large wings — appear to be in the act of artificially fer-
tilizing the palm tree by scattering the male blossom over the
female palm. This plausible interpretation first suggested by
E. B. Tylor 6 carries with it the conclusion that the importance
1 See on this general subject Marillier's admirable articles, " La Place du Totem-
isme dans 1'e volution religieuse " (Revue de VHistoire des Religions, xxxvi).
2 See pp. 397, 398.
3 See Peters' Nippur, ii. 131, and Hilprecht, Cuneiform Texts, ix. pi. xiii.
4 See Ward, " On Some Babylonian Cylinders supposed to represent Human Sac-
rifices " (Proc. Amer. Oriental Soc., May, 1888, pp. xxviii-xxx).
5 See, e.g., Layard, Momiments of Nineveh, ist series, pis. 7, 25 ; Place, Nineve
et V Assyrie, pi. 46, etc.
6 " The Winged Figures of the Assyrian and Other Ancient Monuments," Proc.
Soc. Bibl. Arch., xii. 383-393 ; see also Bonavia, " The Sacred Trees of the Assyrian
Monuments," Babylonian and Oriental Record, vols. iii, iv, whose conclusions, how-
ever, are not always acceptable.
THE TEMl'LES AND THE CULT. 663
of palm culture in the Euphrates Valley not only gave the
palm the character of a sacred tree, but lent to the symbol a
wider significance to a more advanced age, as illustrating fer-
tility and blessings in general. The scene, reproduced in almost
endless variations in which both trees and figures become
conventionalized, came to be regarded as a symbol of adora-
tion and worship in general. As such, it survived in religious
art and continued to be pictured on seal cylinders to a late age.
The occasions on which sacrifices were brought were
frequent. If the gods were to be consulted for the purpose
of obtaining an oracle, elaborate offerings formed a necessary
preliminary. In this case, the animals presented at the altar
served a double purpose.1 They constituted a means of
propitiating the god in favor of the petitioner, and at the same
time the inspection of certain parts of the animal served as an
omen in determining what was the will of the god appealed to.
When the foundations were to be laid for a temple or a palace,
it was especially important to secure the favor of the gods by
suitable offerings, and, similarly, when a canal was to be built
or any other work of a public character undertaken. Again,-
upon the dedication of a sacred edifice or of a palace, or upon
completing the work of restoration of a temple, sheep and
oxen in abundance were offered to the gods, as well as various
kinds of birds and the produce of the orchards and fields.
The Babylonian rulers appear to have accompanied their
sacrifices on such occasions with prayers, and in a previous
chapter we had occasion to discuss some of these dedicatory
invocations.2 In the Assyrian inscriptions, prayers are specifi-
cally referred to only as being offered before setting out on an
expedition, before a battle, or when the kings find themselves
in distress,3 so that if the Babylonian custom likewise prevailed
1 See chapter xix, " Oracles and Omens."
a See pp. 295-299.
3 See, e.g., Sennacherib, IK. 47, col. v. 11. 50-54 ; Ashurbanabal, Rassam Cylinder,
col. ii. 1. 116, and col. iv. 1. 9.
664 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
in Assyria, it did not form a necessary part of the sacrificial
ritual. The sacrifice as a pure homage is illustrated by the
zeal which the Assyrian kings manifest towards honoring the
great temples of the south. The northern rulers were anxious
at all times to reconcile the southern population to Assyrian
control, and it was no doubt gratifying to the south to find
Tiglathpileser II.,1 upon entering the ancient centers like
Sippar, Nippur, Babylon, Borsippa, Cuthah, Kish, Dilbat, and
Erech, proceeding to the temples in those places in order to
offer his sacrifices. The example of Tiglathpileser is followed
by his successors down through the time of Ashurbanabal.
As often as the Assyrian monarchs may have had occasion to
proceed to Babylonia — and the occasions were frequent,
owing to the constant disposition of the south to throw off the
hated yoke — they emphasized their devotion to Marduk,
Nabu, En-lil, Shamash, and the other gods who had their
seats in the south. Sargon2 goes so far in this homage as
to pose as the reorganizer of the cults of Sippar, Nippur, Bor
sippa, and Babylon, and of restoring the income to temples
in other places.3 But there was another side to this homage
that must not be overlooked. By sacrificing in the Babylonian
temples, the Assyrian rulers indicated their political control
over the south. Such homage as they manifested was the
exclusive privilege of legitimate rulers, and it was important
for the Assyrians to legitimize their control over the south.
A phase of sacrifice is represented by the libations of oil
and wine to which frequent references are found in the
historical texts. It appears to have been customary to anoint
the foundation stones of temples and palaces with oil and
wine. Over the thresholds, too, and over the stones — bearing
commemorative or votive inscriptions — libations of oil, honey,
and wine were poured.
1 IIR. 67, ii, 12. 2 Cylinder, 1. 4.
3 Winckler, Die Keilschrifttexte Sargorfs Prunkinschrift, 11. 134, 135.
THE TEMPLES AND THE CULT. 665
Nebopolassar1 speaks of placing sweet herbs under the walls,
and Nabonnedos2 pours oil over the bolts and doors, as well
as on the thresholds of the Shamash temple at Sippar, and
fills the temple with the aroma of frankincense. Much impor-
tance was attached to this rite, and the kings take frequent
occasion to adjure their successors who may in the course of
restoring edifices come across stones bearing the record of
former builders, to anoint these stones with oil and offer
sacrifices.3 Thus, Nabonnedos,4 when he finds the inscription
of Ashurbanabal in the Shamash temple at Sippar, carefully
obeys the injunction. The rite bears all the marks of great
antiquity. The instances of its occurrence in the Old Testa-
ment — notably in the case of Jacob's act of pouring oil over
the holy stone at Bethel5 — confirm this view; and the inter-
pretation for the rite suggested by Robertson Smith 6 that the
oil was originally the fat of the sacrificed animal smeared over
an object or a person, as a means of investing them with
sanctity, accounts satisfactorily for the invariable juxtaposition
in the cuneiform texts of sacrificial offerings with the anoint-
ing of the inscribed stones.
We have no evidence that the rulers of Babylonia and
Assyria were anointed with oil on their installation, though
it is not improbable that such was the case. The use of the
oil in this case is but a modification of the same rite, which, it
is to be noted, loses some of its ancient force by the spread of
the custom in the Orient of unguents as a part of the toilet.7
The use of odorous herbs, which, we have seen, were placed
under the walls, and of honey and wine, which were poured
over bolts,8 is also directly connected with the sacrificial cult.
1 Hilprecht, Old Babylonian Inscriptions, i. i, pi. 33, col. ii. 11. 54-56.
2 VR. 65, col. ii. 1. 13.
3 See, e.g., Tiglathpileser I., IR. 16, col. viii. 11. 56, 57 ; Sennacherib, IR. 47, coL
vi. 1. 67-71. 6 Religion of the Semites, p. 364.
4 VR. 64, col. ii. 11. 43-45. 7 See Robertson Smith, ib. p. 215.
5 Gen. xxviii. 18. 8 VR. 61, col. iv. 11. 33, 34.
666 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
The libation in its purer form appears in the custom of the
Assyrian kings of pouring wine over the animal slain by them
in the hunt. The act is intended to secure divine favor towards
a deed which involved the destruction of something that by all
ancient nations was held sacred, namely, life. Even a despot
of Assyria felt that to wantonly destroy life could not be safely
undertaken without making sure of the consent of the gods.
Significantly enough, Ashurbanabal offers his libations after
the lion or bull hunts to Ishtar as the "goddess of battle."1
The animal is sanctified by being devoted to a goddess, just
as the victims in a battle constitute the conqueror's homage
offered to the gods who came to his assistance.
Sacrifices with libations are so frequently represented on the
seal cylinder that this testimony alone would suffice to vouch
for the importance attached to this rite in the cult. One of
the most archaic specimens of Babylonian art2 represents a
worshipper, entirely naked, pouring a libation into a large cup
which stands on an altar. Behind the altar sits a goddess who
is probably A or Malkatu, the consort of the sun-god. The
naked worshipper is by no means an uncommon figure in the
early Babylonian art,3 and it would appear that at one time it
was customary to remove one's garments preliminary to step-
ping into the god's presence, just as among the Arabs the cult
of the Caaba in Mecca was conducted by the worshippers at
an early period without their clothes.4 The custom so fre-
quently referred to in the Old Testament to remove one's shoes
upon entering sacred territory, — a custom still observed by the
modern Muslim, who leaves his shoes outside of the Mosque, —
may be regarded as an indication, that at an earlier period
people removed their garments as well as the sandals. It may
1 IR. 7, no. ix.
2 Heuzey in De Sarzec's Decouvcrtes en Chaldce, p. 209.
3 Several examples occur in De Sarzec's Dccouvertcs en Chaldcc. See also Ward,
Proc. Amer. Oriental Soc., May, 1888, p. xxix, and Peters' Nippur, ii. pi. 2.
4 Wellhausen, Rcste Arabischen Hcitfcnt/imns, p. 106.
THE TEMPLES AND THE CULT. 667
be that the order to take off the sandal alone, as recorded
in the Old Testament, is nothing but a euphemistic phrase
(suggested by a more refined age) to strip oneself. Certainly,
when we find that in the days of Saul, the seers went about
naked, there can no longer be any doubt that there was a time
when the Hebrews, too, like the Arabs and Babylonians,
entered the holy presence naked.
The institution of daily sacrifices is vouched for in the case
of the larger religious centers like Babylonia, Borsippa, Sippar,
Cuthah, as well as Nineveh for the late periods. Nebuchad-
nezzar, for example, tells us1 that he provided for a sacrifice of
six lambs daily in the temple E-shidlam at Cuthah, sacred to
Nergal and Laz ; while for Nabu's temple at Borsippa, the
daily sacrifices were arranged on a still larger scale, and
included two fattened bulls of perfect form, sixteen smaller
animals, besides offerings of fish, birds, leek, various kinds of
wine, honey, cream, and the finest oil, — all intended, as the king
tells us, for the table of Nabu and his consort. No doubt the
daily official sacrifices at Marduk's temple were even more
elaborate. The custom of regular sacrifices in the larger tem-
ples may be traced back to an early period. The technical
terms for such sacrifices are sattuku and ginfi. Both terms
convey the idea of being " fixed," perpetual,2 and suggest a
comparison with the Pentateuchal institution of the tamid? i.e.,
the daily sacrifice. Whenever the kings in their inscriptions
mention the regular sacrifices, it is in almost all cases with
reference to their reinstitution of an old custom that had been
allowed to fall into neglect (owing to political disturbances
which always affected the temples), and not as an innovation.
Innovations were limited to increasing the amounts of these
1 Grotefend Cylinder, col. ii. 11. 36-39.
2 They are also used in the sense of any permanent provision for a temple through
an endowment.
3 Lit., 'the steady ' sacrifice. See the technical employment, Dan. viii. n.
668 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
regular sacrifices. So, for example, Nabubaliddin restores and
increases the gine of the great temple E-babbara at Sippar.1
But regular sacrifices do not necessarily involve daily offerings.
The same terms, ginu and sattfiku, are applied frequently to
monthly offerings, and except in the large religious centers,
regular sacrifices were in all probabilities brought on certain
days of each month, and not daily. The days thus singled
out, as will be shown further on, differed for various sanctu-
aries. It would be important if we could determine the share
in these regular sacrifices taken by the people at large, but the
material at hand does not suffice for settling the question.
There are frequent references to tithes in the clay tablets
forming part of the archives of temples, and monthly tributes
are also mentioned. We certainly may conclude from these
references that the people were taxed in some way for the sup-
port of the temples. Ashurbanabal in one place speaks of
reimposing upon the population of the south the provision for
the sattfiku and ginu due to Ashur and Belit2 and the gods of
Assyria; but, for all that, it is not certain that the regular sac-
rifices at the temples partook of a popular character. One
gains the impression that, except on the occasions when the
people came to the sanctuaries for individual purposes, the
masses as such had but comparatively little share in it. In
this respect the cult of the Hebrews, which has so many points
in common with the Babylonian ritual as to justify the hypoth-
esis that the details of sacrificial regulations in the priestly
code are largely derived from practices in Babylonian temples,
was more democratic. Closely attached as the Babylonians
were to their sanctuaries, the regular sacrifices do not appear
to have been an active factor in maintaining this attachment.
A more decidedly popular character is apparent in the votive
offerings made to the temples. These offerings cover a wide
1 VR. 61, col. iv. 1. 48-00!. v. 1.6 ; see also Ashurbanabal, Rassam Cylinder, col. iv.
1. 90. 2 Belit here used for Ashur's consort ; see p. 226.
THE TEMPLES AND THE CULT. 669
range. Rulers and people alike felt prompted to make gifts to
the sanctuaries on special occasions, either as a direct homage
to the gods or with the avowed purpose and hope of securing
divine favor or divine intercession.
The statues of themselves which the rulers from the days of
Gudea 1 on were fond of erecting were dedicated by them as
offerings to the gods, and this avowed aim tempers, in a meas-
ure, the vanity which no doubt was the mainspring of their
action. The statues were placed in the temples, and from
Gudea2 we learn of the elaborate ceremonies connected with
the dedication of one of the king's colossal blocks of diorite.
For seven days all manual labor was interrupted in Lagash.
Masters and slaves shared in the festivities. The temple of
Nin-girsu is sanctified anew by purification rites, and the statue
is formally presented to the god amidst sacrifices and offerings
of rich gifts. The account given in the Book of Daniel3 of the
dedication of Nebuchadnezzar's statue may be regarded as an
equally authentic picture of a custom that survived to the clos-
ing days of the Babylonian monarchy, except that we have no
proof that divine honors were paid to these statues.4 The
front, sides, and back of Gudea's images were covered with
inscriptions, partly of a commemorative character, but in part,
also, conveying a dedication to Nin-girsu. Similarly, the steles
of the Assyrian kings, set up by them either in the temples or
on the highways beyond the confines of Assyria, and which
had images of the rulers sculptured on them in high relief,
were covered with inscriptions, devoted primarily to celebrat-
ing the deeds of the kings ; but, since the victories of the
armies were ascribed to the assistance furnished by the gods,
an homage to Ashur or some other deity was involved in the
i See p. 652.
a Inscription B, cols, vii-viii.
3 Chapter Hi. 1-7.
4 This touch appears to have been added by the Hebrew writer. Nebuchadnezzar
is but a disguise for Antiochus Epiphanes.
670 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
recital. That the gods were accorded a minor share of the
glory was but in keeping with the pride of the Assyrian rulers,
who were less affected than the rulers of the south by the
votive character of the statues.
Both Babylonians and Assyrians, however, unite in making
images of the gods as a distinct homage, and in giving elabo-
rate presents of gold, silver, precious stones, costly woods, and
garments to the sanctuaries as votive offerings to the gods.
These presents were used in the decoration of temples and
shrines, as well as of the statues of the gods or as direct con-
tributions to the temple treasury. Celebrations of victories
were chosen as particularly appropriate occasions for making
such votive offerings. So Agumkakrimi, upon bringing back
to E-Sagila the statues of Marduk and Sarpanitum that had
been taken away by ruthless hands, bestows rich gifts upon
the temples and describes J at great length the costly garments
embroidered with gold and studded with precious stones that
were hung on Marduk and his consort. Equally vivid is the
description of the high, conical-shaped caps, made of lapis
lazuli and gold, and decorated, furthermore, with various kinds
of stones, that were placed on the heads of the deities. Gar-
ments for the statues of the gods appear to have been favorite
votive offerings at all times. Nabubaliddin, in restoring the
cult of Shamash at Sippar, makes provisions for an elaborate
outfit of garments,2 specifying different garments for various
periods of the year. It would appear from this that for the
various festive occasions of the year, the garments of the gods
were changed, much as in other religions — including the
Catholic Church — the officiating priests are robed in different
garments on the various festive or solemn occasions.
Votive tablets or discs of lapis lazuli, agate, turquoise, gold,
silver, copper, antimony, and other metals with dedicatory
1 VR. 33, col. ii. 1. 22-col. iii. 1. 12.
2 VR. 61, col. vi. 11. 1-13.
THE TEMPLES AND THE CULT. 671
inscriptions 'were deposited in the temples. What particular
purpose they served we do not know. As a specimen of the
more common formula on these tablets, a lapis lazuli tablet of
Nippur may be chosen. It is offered by a Cassite king, and
reads l as follows :
To Bel
His lord
Kadashman-Turgu
For his life
Presented.
A knob-shaped object2 of fine limestone contains a dedication
in similar phrases to Marduk. It is offered by Bel-epush, who
is probably identical with a Babylonian ruler of this name in
the seventh century, — a contemporary of Sennacherib: 3
To Marduk, his lord
Bel-epush for the preservation of his life
Made and presented.
Kings, however, do not appear to be the only ones for whom
these votive offerings were prepared. A dedication to a
personage otherwise unknown and to all appearances a layman
reads : 4
To Ea,5 his lord, Bel-zir,
Son of Ea-ban,
For the preservation of his life
Made and presented.
The formulas are thus seen to be conventional ones, though
occasionally the inscription is somewhat longer. So, for
example, Nazi-Maruttash, another Cassite king, puts a little
prayer on a votive offering:
1 Hilprecht, Old Babylonian Inscriptions, i. i, pi. 23, no. 62.
- In the museum at Copenhagen. Described by Knudtzon in the Zeits.f. Assyr.,
xii. 255.
3 Tiele, Babylonisch-Assyrische Geschichte, p. 287.
4 In the Berlin Museum (Knudtzon, ib.). It is also on a knob which contains
remains of an iron stick, to which, evidently, the knob was fastened.
5 Written A-e.
672 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
[To Bel, his lord] *
Nazi-Maruttash,
Son of Kurigalzu,
To hearken to his supplication,
To be favorable to his prayer,
To accept his entreaty,
To lengthen his days,
[He made and presented].
This inscription appears, as Dr. Hilprecht informs us,1 on an
ax made of imitation lapis lazuli.2 Other votive inscriptions
are found on rings and on knobs of ivory or magnesite.3 These
various designs no doubt all had some symbolical significance.
The ring suggests some ultimate connection between votive
offerings and amulets. The seal cylinders, we know, although
put to practical use in impressing the design on a clay tablet
as a substitute for a personal signature, were also regarded as
amulets, and this accounts for the frequency with which
scenes of religious worship were introduced as designs on
the cylinders. The ring is distinctly an amulet in Babylonia
as elsewhere, and hence it is by no means improbable that the
custom of carrying little inscribed tablets, discs, or knobs about
the person as a protection against mischances preceded the
use of such tablets as votive offerings to be placed in a temple.
A very common votive object in Babylonia, especially in the
earlier period, was the clay cone. Such cones were found in
large numbers at Lagash, while at Nippur Peters came across
what may be safely regarded as a magazine where such cones
(and other votive objects) were manufactured in large num-
bers.4 The cones of Gudea bear conventional inscriptions of a
votive character addressed to Nin-girsu. In other temples,
1 Hilprecht, Old Babylonian Inscriptions, i. i, p. 58.
2 In reality, glass colored with cobalt. On this production of false lapis lazuli,
see Peters' Nippur, ii. 134.
3 For examples, see Hilprecht, it., pi. 18, no. 34 ; pi. 23, nos. 56, 57 ; pi. 25, nos.
66, 69 ; pi. 26, no. 70.
4 Peters' Nippur, ii. 77, 133.
THE TEMPLES AND THE CULT. 673
other gods were similarly remembered. It has been customary
to regard these cones as phallic symbols ; l but it should be
noted that not only is the evidence for this lacking, but that
what we know of the popular practices of the Babylonians does
not warrant us in assuming any widespread phallic symbolism.
The point of the cones suggests rather that the objects were
intended to be stuck into the ground or into walls. At Lagash
De Sarzec found, besides cones, a large number of copper
statuettes 2 of gods and goddesses and of animals, — chiefly
bulls, — all terminating in a sharp point or attached to a cone-
shaped object. Others again are clearly human figures, either
male personages holding the cone in their hands,3 or females
holding baskets on their heads, — the customary attitude of
making an offering. These curious statuettes frequently bear
inscriptions of a votive character, and there can be no doubt
that they were used to be stuck into some substance. At one
place, De Sarzec found a series set up in concentric circles4 in
the corners of an edifice and under the floor. Heuzey is of the
opinion that these statuettes thus arranged were to serve as a
warning for the demons, but it is more in keeping with the gen-
eral character of the Babylonian religion to look upon these
objects simply as votive offerings placed at various parts of a
building as a means of securing the favor of the gods. The cone,
I venture to think, is merely the conventionalized shape of a
votive object originally intended to be stuck into some part of a
sacred building. The large quantity of cones that have been
found at Lagash, Nippur, and elsewhere is an indication of
their popular use. It is not improbable that at one time, and,
at all events, in certain temples, the cones and statuettes
represented the common votive offerings with which worshippers
1 So, e.g., Peters' Nippur, ii. 237, 238, 378, 379.
2 De Sarzec, Dccouvcrtcs en Chaldce, pis. i bis and 28.
3 The opinion has been advanced that the personage who holds the cone-shaped
object is the fire-god turning the fire drill, but this is highly improbable.
4 Decouvertes en Chaldee, p. 239.
674 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
provided themselves upon entering the sacred precinct. To
facilitate the reproduction of the statuettes, moulds were used,
— another indication of the widespread use of these objects.
Clay figures of gods and goddesses were also made in moulds
or modelled by hand and served as votive offerings. At
Nippur, the images represent chiefly Bel and Belit,1 either
separately or in combination ; but figurines of Ishtar have also
been found.'2 In some the goddess is represented as suckling
a child. Often she is pictured as naked, clasping her breasts or
her womb. The attitude which was suggested by the character
of the goddess as the promoter of fertility appears to have been
too obscene to a more refined age, and, accordingly, we find in
later times the sexual parts suppressed or the figure properly
clothed. The character of these figurines varied naturally
with each religious center, and even in the same center modifi-
cations were introduced.
Whether these clay figurines, cones, and metallic statuettes
were also placed by individuals in their dwellings, like the
" plague " tablets,3 we cannot as yet definitely say, but it is
more than likely that such was the case. The teraphim
familiar to us from the references in the Old Testament,4 and
evidently used as talismans, belong to the class of votive offer-
ings under consideration. The figurines and cones, and also
(though to a smaller degree) the copper statuettes, thus intro-
duce us to the popular phases of the cult. As symbols of
homage they appear to have survived to a late period, and
their use as talismans did not materially affect their character
as offerings, made by the people upon seeking the sanctuaries.
The more costly objects, as vases,5 artistically worked weapons,
handsome " seas " bowls, altars, and statues of the gods and
1 Peters' Nippur, ii. 376, and Hilprecht, Cuneiform Texts, ix. pi. 12.
2 Peters, ib. pp. 374, 375.
3 See p. 536.
4 E.g., Gen. xxxi. 19.
5 See the specimens and descriptions \nDecouvertes en Chaldee, pi. 44 and p. 234.
THE TEMri.ES AND THE CULT. 675
other furniture for the temples were left to the rulers. Such
offerings were made with great pomp. They were formally
dedicated by large processions of priests, with the accompani-
ment of hymns and music. The kings of Assyria presented
the captured gods as votive gifts pleasing to their deity.1 They
bring back with them from their campaigns the beams of the
edifices that they destroyed and offer them to Ishtar.2 Upon
coming to Babylonia, they do not fail to bring presents of gold,
silver, precious stones, copper, iron, purple, precious garments,
and scented woods to Marduk and Sarpamtum, to Nabu and
Tashmitum, and the other great gods.3 The first fruits of
extensive groves are offered by Ashurnasirbal to Ashur and the
temples of his land.4 The rulers of Assyria vie with the kings
of Babylonia in presenting gardens5 and lands to the gods as
votive offerings ; but for all that, in ancient Babylonia and
Assyria, as among other peoples of antiquity, the more fervent
religious spirit was manifested in the small tokens of the
masses, whose attachment to the temples was of a different
order from that which prompted the rulers of the north and
south to a display, in which vanity and the desire to manifest
their power play a larger part as one generation succeeds the
other.
FESTIVALS.
We have seen 6 that in the developed system of the Baby-
lonian religion, every day of the year had some significance, and
that certain days in each month — so, e.g., the yth, i/j-th, igth,
2ist, and 28th — had a special significance. It has also been
pointed out that in different religious centers, the days singled
out for special significance differed. In view of this, we must
i Tiglathpileser I. (IR. 12, col. iv. 1. 23) presents twenty-five gods of the land of
Sugi. 5 v R. 60, col. ii. 11. 1 1-16.
'* Ashurnasirbal, IR. 25, col. iii. 11. 91, 92.
;! Winckler, Die Kcilsclirifttcxtc Sargoiis Prunkinschrift, 11. 141-143.
* IR. 27, 8-10. 6 See pp. 373-383-
676 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
be prepared to find that the festival days were not the same
in all parts of Babylonia, nor necessarily identical in the vari-
ous periods of Babylonian and Assyrian history.
The common name for festival was isinnu. If we may judge
from the use of assinnu as a general name for priest,1 — a
servant of a deity, — the underlying stem appears to signify
simply * to serve.' Another name that reveals more as to the
character of the Babylonian festivals is tashiltu, which is used
as a synonym for 'joy, delight.' The festivals were indeed
joyous occasions, marked by abundance of offerings and merry-
making, though, as we shall see, the somber note in the rejoic-
ings was not absent. The kings dedicate their temples and
palaces amidst manifestation of rejoicing. They pray that the
gods may occupy the dwellings prepared for them " in joy and
jubilance," 2 and the reference to festivals in the historical texts
are all of such a character as to make us feel that the Baby-
lonian could apppreciate the Biblical injunction to " rejoice "
in the divine presence, on the occasions set apart as, in a
peculiar sense, sacred.
Defective as our knowledge of the ancient Babylonian festi-
vals still is, the material at our disposal shows that at a com-
paratively early period, there was one day in the year on which
a festival was celebrated in honor of a god or goddess that
had a more important character than any other. In the devel-
oped zodiacal system of Babylonia each month is sacred to a
deity.4 This system was perfected under the direct influence
of the theological schools of Babylonia, but so much of it,
at all events, rests upon ancient traditions which assigns a
month to each god; and since Marduk is not accorded the
first place, but takes his position in a group of solar deities,
1 See above, p. 658.
2 This is a standing phrase in the inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar, as well as of
other kings. See Delitzsch, Assyr. Handivorterbuch, p. 2;ob.
3 Deut. xii. 18: xvi. 14, etc.
4 See pp. 462, 463.
77/A TEMPLES AND THE CULT. 677
and since, moreover, these solar deities have a position in the
calendar which accords with their specific solar character,1 we
may proceed a step further and assume with some confidence
that the Babylonian scholars were guided — in large part, at
least — by ancient traditions in parceling out the months as
they did. Anu, Bel, and Ea, it is true, may have been assigned
to the first three months because of the preeminent position of
these three gods as a special triad ; but even here the antiquity
of the triad furnishes a guarantee that the association of some
month with some deity belongs to a very ancient period of
Babylonian history. This being the case, it would be natural
that the first day of the month sacred to a deity would be
regarded as his or her festival par excellence, and in the case
of the cult of a deity spreading beyond its original limits, this
festival would assume a more general character. On this day
the people would come from all parts of the district within
which the cult was carried on, to pay their homage to the god
or goddess. In the days of Gudea, we find Bau occupying this
superior rank. Her festival had assumed such importance as
to serve for reckoning the commencement of the year.
Hence it became known simply as the day of zag-muku,2 that
is, the New Year's Day.3 Whether this festival of Bau was
recognized as the New Year's Day throughout Babylonia, we
do not know, but it must have been observed in a consider-
ably extensive district, or Gudea would have made the attempt
to give some festival connected with his favorite deity Nin-
girsu this character. As it is, he can only combine Bau's
festival with the cult of Nin-girsu, by making the New Year's
Day the occasion of a symbolical marriage between the god
and the goddess. Nin-girsu is represented as offering marriage
1 See ib. 8 resh shatti. See p. 68 1.
2 Or zag-mu. Gudea, Inscription G, col. iii. In the later inscriptions we find
zag-mu-ku. The k or kn appears to be an afformative. See Amiaud, Z,eits. f.
Assyr. iii. 41. The reading za-am-mu-ku is found, IK. 67, col. i. 1. 34.
678 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
gifts to Bau,1 on the Zagmuku. How early Bau came to occupy
so significant a rank has not been ascertained. It is her
quality as the ' great mother,' as the goddess of fertility and
abundance,2 rather than any political supremacy of the district
in which she was worshipped, that constitutes the chief factor
in giving Bau this preeminence, just as we have found in
the case of the other great goddesses of Babylonia, — Nina,
Nana, Ishtar, — specific traits and not political importance
lending them the significance they acquired.
At one time we may well suppose that the festival of En-lil
at Nippur, which brought worshippers from all parts of Baby-
lonia, was recognized as a ' New Year's Day,' and we may
some day find evidence that at a still earlier period the first
day of a month sacred to -some other god, — Sin or Shamash
or Nana-Ishtar of Erech, — was recognized in some districts
as the starting-point for the year ; but to an agricultural com-
munity, the spring, when the seeds are sown, or the fall, after
the harvest has been gathered, are the two most natural periods
for reckoning the beginning of the year. Since we know that
at the time when Babylon acquired her supremacy the year
began in the spring, the conservatism attaching to religious
observances makes it more than probable that Bau's festival
also fell in the spring.
After the ancient religious and political centers of the south
yielded their privileges to Babylon, it was natural for the
priests of Marduk to covet the honor of the New Year's festival
for the new head of the pantheon. Accordingly, we find the
Zagmuku transformed into a Marduk festival. That it did not
originally belong to Marduk follows from the fact that it was
celebrated in the month of Nisan, — the first month, — whereas
the month sacred to Marduk was Arakh-shamna (or Marche-
shwan), — the eighth month. The deliberate transfer of the
1 Inscription G, ib., and Inscription D, col. ii. 11. 1-9. See also p. 59.
2 See above, ib.
yyy/s TEMPLES AND THE CULT. 679
Zagmuku to Marduk is also indicated by the fact that the
festival of Nisan has another name by which it is more com-
monly designated, — Akitu.1 The name seems to have been
originally a general term for a festival, and it is natural that
Marduk's festival should have come to be known as the fes-
tival, just as among the Hebrews the annual fall pilgrimage to
the sanctuary at Jerusalem became known as the Hag, — the
pilgrimage par excellence. To distinguish it from other festivals,
Marduk's festival is sometimes spoken of as the "great" or
the " lofty " Akitu. The first day was properly the Zagmuku,
whereas the Akitu itself extended at least over the first eleven
days of Nisan2 and may indeed have lasted the entire month;
but Zagmuku was also used for the festival period. The New
Year's Day was marked by a solemn procession. The union
of Nabu and Marduk was symbolized by a visit which the
former paid to his father, the chief of the Babylonian pantheon.
In his ship, magnificently fitted out,3 Nabu was carried along
the street known as Ai-ibur-shabu,4 leading from Borsippa
across the Euphrates to Babylon.
The street was handsomely paved,5 and everything was done
to heighten the impressiveness of the ceremony. The visit of
Nabu marked the homage of the gods to Marduk ; and Nabu
set the example for other gods, who were all supposed to
assemble in E-Sagila during the great festival. We have
already pointed out that the cult of Nabu at Borsippa at one
time was regarded with greater sanctity than the Marduk wor-
ship in Babylon. As a concession to the former supremacy
of Nabu, the priests of E-Sagila, carrying the statue of Marduk,
escorted Nabu back to Borsippa. The return visit raises the
suspicion that it was originally Marduk who was obliged to
pay an annual homage to Nabu.
1 See, e.g., Pognon Wadi Brissa, col. ix. 11. 12-18.
'2 This follows from a passage in Nebuchadnezzar's Inscription, IR. 54, col. ii. 1. 57.
3 See p. 654. 4 Signifying ' may the enemy not wax strong.'
5 See Nebuchadnezzar's Inscription, IR. 56, col. v. 11. 38-54.
680 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
However this may be, the double ceremony became to such
an extent the noteworthy feature of the Zagmuku or Akitu that
when the chroniclers wish to indicate that, because of political
disturbances, the festival was not celebrated, they use the simple
formula :
Nabu did not come to Babylon.
Bel [i.e., Marduk] did not march out.1
The Akitu festival brought worshippers from all parts of
Babylonia and Assyria to the capitol. Kings and subjects
alike paid their devotions to Marduk. The former approached
the divine presence directly, and, seizing hold of the hands of
Marduk's statue, were admitted into a kind of covenant with
the god. The ceremony became the formal rite of royal instal-
lation in Babylonia. " To seize the hands of Bel " was equiva-
lent to legitimizing one's claim to the throne of Babylonia, and
the chroniclers of the south consistently decline to recognize
Assyrian rulers as kings of Babylonia until they have come to
Babylon and "seized the hands of Bel."2 That this ceremony
was annually performed by the kings of Babylonia after the
union of the southern states is quite certain. It marked a
renewal of the pledge between the king and his god. The
Assyrian kings, however, contented themselves, with a single
visit. Of Tiglathpileser II.3 and Sargon,4 we know that they
came to Babylonia for the purpose of performing the old cere-
mony j and others did the same.
The eighth and eleventh days of the festival month were
1 So, e.g., during the closing years of Nabonnedos' reign. Winckler, Unter-
suchungen ztir Altorient. Gesch. i. 154 ; obv. 6 (7th year) ; n (gth year) ; 20 (loth
year) ; 24 (nth year).
a On the meaning and importance of the rite, see Winckler, Zeits. f. Assyr. ii.
302-304, and Lehmann's Shamash-slmimikin, pp. 44-53.
3 Eponym List, IIR. 52, no. i obv. 45.
4 Winckler, Die Kcilschrifttexte Sargon' 's, pp. 52, 124; of Ashurbanabal, the
chronicler tells us that he proceeded to Babylonia in the month of lyyar, but, this not
being the proper month, he did not " seize the hands of Bel." See also Winckler,
ib. p. xxxvi, note.
THE TEMPLES AND THE CULT. 681
invested with special sanctity. On these days all the gods
were brought together in the " chamber of fates " of Marduk's
temple. In symbolical imitation of the assembly of the gods
in Ubshu-kenna,1 Marduk sits on his throne and the gods
are represented as standing in humble submission before him,
while he decrees the fates of mankind for the coming year.
The Zagmuku festival in its developed form has striking points
of resemblance to the Jewish New Year's Day. On this day,
according to the popular Jewish tradition, God sits in judgment
with a book before Him in which He inscribes the fate of man-
kind. Nine days of probation are allowed, and on the tenth
day — the Day of Atonement — the fates are sealed. The
Jewish New Year is known as Rosh-hash-shana,2 which is an
exact equivalent of the Babylonian rcsh shaft i (or zag-muku).
A difference, however, between the Babylonian and the Jewish
festival is that the latter is celebrated in the seventh month.
It is not correct, therefore, to assume that the Hebrews bor-
rowed their Rosh-hash-shana from the Babylonians. Even after
they adopted the Babylonian calendar,3 they continued to regard
the seventh month — the harvest month — as the beginning of
the year. That among the Babylonians the seventh month
also had a sacred character may be concluded from the mean-
ing of the ideographs with which the name is written.4 The
question may, therefore, be raised whether at an earlier period
and in some religious center — Nippur, Sippar, or perhaps Ur
— the seventh month may not have been celebrated as the
Zagmuku. At all events, we must for the present assume
that the Hebrews developed their New Year's Day, which they
may have originally received from Babylonia, independently of
Marduk's festival, though, since the Rosh-hash-shana does not
come into prominence among the Jews until the period of the
1 See pp. 423 and 629 scq. 3 See p. 464.
2 /.., note 3.
682 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
so-called Babylonian exile, the possibility of a direct Babylonian
influence in the later conceptions connected with the day can-
not be denied.1
Of the other festivals of the Babylonians and Assyrians but
few details are known. Several references have already been
made to the Tammuz festival.2 Originally a solar festival,
celebrated in the fourth month at the approach of the summer
solstice, it became through the association of ideas suggested
by the mourning of Ishtar for her lost consort Tammuz a kind
of 'All Souls' Day,' on which the people remembered their
dead. Dirges were sung by the wailing women to the accom-
paniment of musical instruments; offerings were made to the
dead, and it is plausible to assume that visits were paid to
the graves. The mourning was followed .by a festival of
rejoicing, symbolizing the return of the solar-god. The Tam-
muz festival appears to have had a strong hold upon the
masses, by reason of the popularity of the Tammuz myth ;
nor was it limited to the Babylonians. Among the Phoeni-
cians the cult of Tammuz, known by his title Adon (whence
Adonis), was maintained to a late period, and the Hebrews,
likewise, as late as the days of Ezekiel,3 commemorated with
rites of mourning the lost Tammuz. The calendar of the
Jewish Church still marks the i;th day of Tammuz as a fast,
and Houtsma has shown 4 that the association of the day with
the capture of Jerusalem by the Romans represents merely
the attempt to give an ancient festival a worthier interpreta-
tion. The day was originally connected with the Tammuz
1 The opinion of many scholars that the Rosh-hash-shana dates from the Baby-
lonian exile because not referred to in the Book of Deuteronomy is open to serious
objections. The festival has traces of antiquity (like the Day of Atonement), and
appears to have been revived during the captivity, under Babylonian influence.
2 See especially pp. 484 and 575.
3 Ezekiel, viii. 14. There is probably a reference also to the Tammuz festival in
Zech. xii. 10, u. The interpretation offered by Robertson Smith (Religion of the
Semites, p. 392, note) for the mourning rites appears strained.
4 Over de Israelictischc Vastcndagcn (Amsterdam, 1897, pp. 4-6 ; 12-17).
THE TEMPLES AND THE CULT. 683
cult. Eerdmans l has recently endeavored to show that the
festival of Hosein, celebrated by the Shiitic sect of Moham-
medanism in memory of the tragic death of the son of Ali, is in
reality a survival of the Babylonian-Phoenician Tammuz festival.
The spread of the Tammuz- Adonis myth and cult to the Greeks 2
is but another indication of the popularity of this ancient
Semitic festival.
The old Zagmuku festival in honor of Bau and the Tammuz
festival, celebrated in spring and summer, respectively, are
also closely associated with agricultural life. The spring as
the seedtime is, as we have seen, a natural period for begin-
ning the calculation of the New Year, while a first harvest of
the wheat and barley is reaped in Babylonia at the time of the
summer solstice. We should expect, therefore, to find a third
festival in the fall, at the close of the harvest and just before
the winter rains set in. The seventh month — Tishri — was
a sacred month among the ancient Hebrews as well as among
the Babylonians, but up to the present no distinct traces of
a festival period in Tishri have been found in Babylonian
texts. We must content ourselves, therefore, with the conjec-
ture, above thrown out, that an Akitu was originally celebrated
in this month at some ancient religious center of the Euphrates
Valley. Further publications of cuneiform texts may throw
light upon this point. The unpublished material in European
and American museums harbors many surprises.
In AshurbanabaPs annals3 there is an interesting reference
to a festival celebrated in honor of the goddess Gula, the god-
dess of healing,4 on the twelfth day of lyyar, the second month.
The festival is described ideographically as Si-gar,6 but from
1 Z.cits. f. Assyr. ix. 290 seq.
2 See Farnell, The Cults of the Greek States, ii. 648 seq.
3 Rassam Cylinder, col. i. 11. n, 12.
4 See pp. 105 and 173 seq.
5 The readings Sum-gar and Shum-gar (so Jensen, Keils Bibl. ii. 155) are also
possible.
684 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
the fact that the same ideographs are used elsewhere to de-
scribe a day sacred to Sin and Shamash,1 it would appear that
Si-gar is not a specific appellation, but a general name again
for festival. This month lyyar and this particular day, as a
"favorable one," is chosen by Ashurbanabal for his installa-
tion as king of Assyria. The same month is selected for a
formal pilgrimage to Babylonia for the purpose of restoring
to E-Sagila a statue of Marduk that a previous Assyrian king
had taken from its place,2 and Lehmann is probably correct in
concluding 3 that this month of lyyar was a particularly sacred
one in Assyria, emphasized with intent perhaps by the kings,
as an offset against the sacredness of Nisan in Babylonia.
Festivals in honor of Ninib were celebrated in Calah in the
months of Elul — the sixth month — and Shabat — the eleventh
month.4 The sixth month, it will be recalled, is sacred to
Ishtar.5 Ninib being a solar deity, his festival in Elul was
evidently of a solar character. From Ashurbanabal,6 again,
we learn that the 25th day of Siwan — the third month-
was sacred to Belit of Babylon, and on that day a procession
took place in her honor. The Belit meant is Sarpanitum in
her original and independent role as a goddess of fertility.
The statue of the goddess, carried about, presumably in her
ship, formed the chief feature of the procession. Ashur-
banabal chooses this " favorable " day as the one on which to
1 IVR. 32, 49b, where the 2oth day of the intercalated Elul is so designated. An
official — ' the great Si-gar ' — is mentioned in a list, — II R. 31, no. 5, 333.
2 See the discussion (and passages) in Lehmann's Skamash-skumukin, pp. 43 seg.
One is tempted to conclude that Marduk's statue was removed to Nineveh, not in a
spirit of vandalism, but in order to enable Assyrian kings to ' seize the hands of
Bel ' without proceeding to E-Sagila. The Babylonians, no doubt, were offended by
such an act, and in order to conciliate them, Ashurbanabal, who pursues a mild
policy towards the south, orders the statue to be restored at the time that he appoints
his brother Shamash-shumukin as governor of the southern provinces.
3 Ib. p. 53, note.
4 Ashurnasirbal's Inscription, IR. 23, col. ii. 1. 134.
5 See above, p. 462.
6 Rassam Cylinder, col. viii. 11. 96-100.
THE TEMPLES AND THE CULT. 685
break up camp in the course of one of his military expe-
ditions. We would naturally expect to find a festival month
devoted to the god Ashur in Assyria. This month was Elul
— the sixth month.1 The choice of this month lends weight
to the supposition that Ashur was originally a solar deity.2
The honors once paid to Ninib in Calah in this month
could thus easily be transferred to the head of the Assyrian
pantheon. Although in the calendar the sixth month is sacred
to Ishtar, her festival was celebrated in the fifth month, known
as Ab.'" This lack of correspondence between the calendar
and the festivals is an indication of the greater antiquity of the
latter.
In the great temple to Shamash at Sippar, there appear to
have been several days that were marked by religious observ-
ances. Nabubaliddin 4 (ninth century) emphasizes that he
presented rich garments to the temple for use on six days of
the year, — the yth day of Nisan (first month), loth of lyyar
(second month), 3d of Elul (sixth month), yth of Tishri (seventh
month), 1 5th of Arakh-shamna (or Marcheshwan, eighth month),
and the i5th of Adar (twelfth month). These garments are
given to Shamash, to his consort Malkatu, and to Bunene.5 Since
from a passage in a Babylonian chronicle6 it appears that it
was customary for Shamash on his festival to leave his temple,
we may conclude that the garments were put on Shamash and
his associates, for the solemn procession on the six days in
question.
The festivals in Nisan and Elul are distinctly of a solar
character. The choice of two other months immediately fol-
1 George Smith, The History of Ashurbanabal, p. 126 (Cylinder B, col. v. 1. 77).
See also Rassam Cylinder, col. iii. 1. 32.
2 See above, pp. 195, 196.
3 See Ashurbanabal Cylinder B, col. v. 1. 16 (Keils Bibl. ii. 248; also Meissner,
1'cilr'iitre znm Altbabylonischen Privatrecht, no. 14 (p. 23).
4 VR. 61, col. v. 1. 5i-vi. 1. 8.
5 See above, pp. 74 and 176.
G Winckler, Zcits.f. Assyr. ii. 155 (col. ii. 1. 41).
686 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
lowing Nisan and Elul cannot be accidental. The interval of
thirty-three days between the Nisan and lyyar festivals and
thirty-four days between the Elul and Tishri festivals may
represent a sacred period.1 Tishri, moreover, as has been
pointed out, is a sacred month in a peculiar sense. Marche-
shwan, it may be well to bear in mind, is sacred to Marduk, —
a solar deity, — while the i5th of Adar, curiously enough, is
an old solar festival that, modified and connected with histori-
cal reminiscences, became popular among the Jews of Persia
and Babylonia during the Persian supremacy in the Semitic
Orient, and survives to this day under the name of the Purim
festival.2 At all events, the six days may be safely regarded
as connected in some way, direct or indirect, with solar wor-
ships, and it is natural to find that in so prominent a center
of sun-worship as Sippar, all the solar festivals were properly
and solemnly observed.
1 One is reminded of the sanctity attaching in the Jewish ritual to the " count-
ing " of the seven weeks intervening between Passover (the old Nisan festival) and
Pentecost (an old summer festival). See Deut. xvi. 9. The 33d day of this period
has a special significance in the Jewish Church.
2 The non-Jewish origin of the Purim festival is generally accepted by critical
scholars. Lagarde (Purim — Em Beitrag zur Gcschichtedcr Religions) endeavors to
trace it back to a Persian fire festival; Zimmern (Zeits.f. Alt. Wiss., 1891, pp. 160
scq.} connects it with the Babylonian Zagmuku. Sayce's supposition (Proc. Soc.
Bibl. Arch. xix. 280, 281) is not to be taken seriously. The origin of the Jewish
feast and fast of Purim is still obscure. The fact that there is both a fast (i4th Adar)
and a festival (i5th Adar) is a safe indication of antiquity. Zimmern's view of a pos-
sible relationship between Purim and Zagmuku is untenable, but that there is a connec-
tion between Purim and some Babylonian festival follows from the fact that the two
chief personages in the Book of Esther — namely, Mordecai and Esther — bear names
identical with the two Babylonian deities, Marduk and Ishtar. This cannot be an acci-
dent. On the other hand, Haman and Vashti, according to Jensen (Wiener Zci/s.
f. d. Kundc des Morgenlandes,v\. 70), are Elamitic names of deities corresponding to
the Babylonian Marduk and Ishtar. The case for Vashti is not clearly made out
by Jensen, but, for all that, it is certain that the Babylonian elements in the insti-
tution have been combined with some bits of Persian mythology. The historical
setting is the work of the Jewish compiler of the tale, that has of course some his-
torical basis. See now Toy, Esther as a Babylonian Goddess ( The New World,
vi. 130-145).
THE TEMPLES AND THE CULT. 687
It is disappointing that up to the present so little has been
ascertained of the details of the moon-cult — the great rival to
Shamash worship — in the old cities of Ur and Harran. In
the Babylonian calendar, the third month — Siwan — is sacred
to Sin, but since, as we have found, the festivals in honor
of the gods do not always correspond to the assignment of the
months, we cannot be certain that in this month a special festival
in honor of Sin was observed. Lastly, besides the regular and
fixed festivals, the kings, and more especially the Assyrian rulers,
did not hesitate to institute special festivals in memory of some
event that contributed to their glory. Agumkakrimi l instituted
a festival upon restoring the statues of Marduk and Sarpanitum
to Babylon, and Sargon does the same upon restoring the palace
at Calah.2 Dedications of temples and palaces were in general
marked by festivities, and so when the kings return in triumph
from their wars, laden with spoils and captives, popular rejoic-
ings were instituted. But such festivals were merely sporadic,
and, while marked by religious ceremonies, were chiefly occa-
sions of general jollification combined with homage to the
rulers. Such a festival was not called an isinnu, but a nigfitu?
— a * merrymaking.' 4 More directly connected with the cult was
a ceremony observed in Assyria upon the installation of an
official, known as the //;;/;;///, who during his year of service
enjoyed the privilege of having official documents dated with
his name.5 The ceremony involved a running6 of some kind,
and reminds one of the running between the two hills Marwa
and Safa in Mekka that forms part of the religious observances
1 VR. 33, col. v. 1. 40.
2 Winckler, Die Keils chrifttexte Sargon>s, p. 172 and p. xxvi, note.
3 E.g., Sargon's Annals, \. 179 ; Cylinder, 1. 20, VR. 33, col. v. 1. 40 (nigatti).
1 Not necessarily ' music festival,' as Delitzsch proposes (Assyr. Hanihv., p. 447a).
5 For examples, see the Assyrian contract tablets translated by Peiser, Keils Bibl.
iv. 98 and fassiin.
c See the passage Shalmanaser obelisk, 11. 174, 175, and Peiser's comment, Keils
Bibl. iv. 1 06, note.
688 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
in connection with a visit to the Kaaba.1 The name of the
ceremony appears to have been puru (or bum). To connect
this word with the Jewish festival of Purim, as Sayce proposes,2
is wholly unwarranted. The character of the Puru ceremony
points to its being an ancient custom, the real significance of
which in the course of time became lost. Fast days instituted
for periods of distress might also be added to the cult, but
these, too, like the special festivals, were not permanent insti-
tutions. For such occasions many of the penitential psalms
which were discussed in a previous chapter3 were composed.
To conciliate angered gods whose temples had been devastated
in days of turmoil, atonement and purification rites were ob-
served. So Ashurbanabal 4 upon his conquest of Babylonian
cities tells us that he pacified the gods of the south with peni-
tential psalms and purified the temples by magic rites; and
Nabubaliddin,5 incidental to his restoration of the Shamash
cult at Sippar, refers to an interesting ceremony of purification,
which consisted in his taking water and washing his mouth
according to the purification ritual of Ea and Marduk,6 pre-
liminary to bringing sacrifices to Shamash in his shrine. Sippar
had been overrun by nomads,7 the temple had been defiled,
and before sacrifices could again be offered, the sacred edifice
and sacred quarter had to be purified. The king's action was
a symbol of this purification. Many such customs must have
been in vogue in Babylonia and Assyria. Some — and these
were the oldest — were of popular origin. On the seal cylinders
there is frequently represented a pole or a conventionalized
1 Burton, A Pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, Hi. chapter vii.
2 See above, p. 686.
8 Chapter xviii.
4 Rassam Cylinder, col. iv. 11. 86-89.
5 VR. 61, col. ii. 11. 22-27.
« Ea and Marduk, it will be recalled, are the chief gods invoked in magic rites
involving purification. See pp. 275, 276.
"> See p. 646.
THE TKMTLKS AND THE CULT. 689
form of a tree, generally in connection with a design illustrat-
ing the worship of a deity.1 This symbol is clearly a survival
of some tree worship2 that was once popular. The compari-
son with the ashera or pole worship among Phoenicians and
Hebrews3 is fully justified, and is a proof of the great an-
tiquity of the symbol, which, without becoming a formal
part of the later cult, retained in some measure a hold upon
the popular mind. Other symbols and customs were intro-
duced under the influence of the doctrines unfolded in the
schools of thought in the various intellectual centers, and as
an expression of the teachings of the priests. The cult of
Babylonia, even more so than the literature, is a compound
of tnese two factors, — popular beliefs and the theological elab-
oration and systematization of these beliefs. In the course
of this elaboration, many new ideas and new rites were intro-
duced. The official cult passed in some important particulars
far beyond popular practices.
1 See numerous examples in Menant's Collection de Clercq (Paris, 1888).
2 See above, p. 662.
3 Stade, Gcschichte des Volkes Israel, i. 458 seq.
CHAPTER XXVII.
CONCLUSION.
GENERAL ESTIMATE AND INFLUENCE.
IN forming a general estimate of a religion, one's verdict
will largely depend upon the point of view from which the
religion in question is regarded. It is manifestly unjust and
illogical to apply modern standards to an ancient religion, not
that such a religion would necessarily suffer by the comparison
involved, but because of the totally different conditions under
which religion developed in antiquity from those prevailing in
modern times. The close association, nay, the inseparable
bond, between religion and the state is only one of several
determining factors that might be adduced, while the small
scope" permitted to individualism in matters of religious belief
and practice in a country like Babylonia or Assyria was fraught
with such peculiar results that all comparisons, even with other
religions of antiquity, could only obscure and not illumine our
judgment.
There are manifestly three phases of the religion of Baby-
lonia and Assyria that need to be considered in reaching some
general conclusions as to the character and rank to be accorded
to it, — the doctrines, the rites, and the ethics. So far as the
pantheon is concerned, the limitations in the development of
doctrines connected with it were reached when the union of
the several Euphratean states was permanently effected under
Hammurabi. Marduk, a solar deity, takes his place as the head
of the pantheon by virtue of the preeminent place occupied by
his patron city, — Babylon. The other great gods, each repre-
CONCLUSION. 691
senting some religious center that at one time or the other
rose to importance, grouped themselves around Marduk, as
the princes and nobles gather around a supreme monarch. A
certain measure of independence was reserved for the great
mother goddess Ishtar, who, worshipped under various names
as the symbol of fertility, plenty, and strength, is not so
decidedly affected by the change as deities like En-lil, Shamash,
Sin, and Ea, who could at any time become rivals of Marduk.
As the position of Marduk, however, became more and more
assured without danger of being shaken, the feeling of rivalry
in his relations to the other gods began to disappear. Marduk's
supremacy no longer being questioned, there was no necessity
to curtail the homage paid to Shamash at Sippar or to En-lil
at Nippur ; hence the religious importance of the old centers
is not diminished by the surpassing glory of Babylon. There
was room for all. Marduk's toleration is the best evidence
of his unquestioned headship.
The centralization of political power and of religious suprem-
acy is concomitant with the focussing of intellectual life in
Babylon. The priests of Marduk set the fashion in theo-
logical thought. So far as possible, the ancient traditions
and myths were reshaped so as to contribute to the glory of
Marduk. The chief part in the work of creation is assigned
to him. The storm-god En-lil is set aside to make room for
the solar deity Marduk. But, despite such efforts, the old tales,
once committed to writing on the practically imperishable clay,
survived, if not in the minds of the people, at least in the
archives of the ancient temples.
The antiquity of literature in Babylonia was the factor that
prevented the cult from acquiring a uniform character in the
various parts of the empire. The priests of Nippur, of Sippar,
of Eridu, of Erech, Cuthah, Ur, and other places began long
before the period of Hammurabi to compile, on the basis of
past experience and as a guide for future needs, omen lists,
692 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
incantation formulas, and sacrificial rituals. These collections
created orthodox standards, and these standards, once acknowl-
edged, the natural conservatism attaching to religious customs
was sufficient to maintain their continuance. The uniform-
ity of doctrine was thus offset by variations in the cult;
and the policy adopted by both Babylonian and Assyrian rulers,
in permitting each center to remain undisturbed, and in freely
recognizing the religious independence of each, prevented the
Babylonian and Assyrian religion from falling into the state of
stagnation which would otherwise have been its fate.
In the views taken of the relationship between the gods and
men, no notable advances were made when once the ethical
spirit was infused into the religious beliefs. The problem of
good and evil was solved in a simple fashion. By the side of
the great gods there existed a large, almost infinite number
of spirits and demons, who were generally held responsible for
the evils affecting mankind.1 These demons and spirits were
in many cases gods 'fallen from grace,' — minor local deities
who, unable to maintain themselves in the face of the growing
popularity of the great gods', sank to an inferior position as
messengers, forced to do the will of their masters and who
could be controlled by the latter. But the intercession of the
priests was essential to obtaining divine help against the
mischievous workings of the spirits. Even the kings, though
originally standing very close to the gods, could not dispense
with the services of the priests, and by virtue of their conspicu-
ous position had to exercise greater precautions than the
masses not to offend the gods, by errors of commission or
omission in the cult. The priests held the secret that could
secure freedom from ills and promote the comparative well-
being of rulers and subjects. They alone knew what incanta-
tions to use for each case that was brought before them, in
what way the sacrifices were to be brought, when the deity
l See above, pp. 183, 266.
CONCLUSION. 693
should be approached, and why divine anger had manifested
itself. The intellectual leadership thus acquired by the priests,
in addition to their control of religious affairs, was an additional
factor in maintaining orthodox standards of belief when once
they had become fixed. In the doctrines of life after death,
this influence of the priesthood is distinctly seen. The popular
notions were systematized, but the priests, true to their rule as
conservators, did not pass beyond primitive conceptions. Some
weak attempts at a philosophical view of the problem of death
are attempted in the Gilgamesh epic as finally put together
under the influence of the Babylonian schools of thought,1 but
the leaders shared with the people the sense of hopelessness
when picturing the life in the great hollow Aralu. It is in the
hymns and prayers, rather than in the cosmology and eschatol-
ogy, that the spiritual aspirations of the priests (and to a
limited degree of the masses) manifest themselves. In these
productions, whether existing independently or incorporated
into incantation rituals, we see the religion of Babylonia at its
best. A strong emphasis is placed upon the doctrine that
misfortunes and ills come as a punishment for sins of com-
mission or omission. It is true that no distinction is drawn
between ceremonial errors and real misdeeds, but the sense of
guilt is aroused by the priests in the minds of those who come
to the temples, seeking relief from the attacks of the evil spirits
or the bewitchment of sorcerers.
It is in this doctrine of guilt, as revealed through the magi-
cal texts, that we must seek both for the starting-point of the
development of an ethical system (so far as such a system
existed among the Babylonians), and also for the limitations
of this system. The aim of the priests to observe the right
ceremonies, to pronounce the right words in order to accom-
plish their aim, reacted on rulers and subjects, and led them to
make the pleasure of the gods the goal of life. With fear of
l See pp. 513 sey.
694 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
the gods, upon which stress is always laid,1 there is thus asso-
ciated an equally strong love 2 of the divine powers. Obedi-
ence to the gods is primarily inculcated as a means of securing
their protection and blessing ; but the fear of the gods, we are
told, is the cause of joy;8 and the Babylonians passed far
beyond the stage of making the satisfaction of one's own
desires the standard of right and wrong. A penitential psalm
declares 4 that what is pleasing to oneself may be sinful in the
eyes of a god.
The kings pride themselves upon being the promoters of
justice. Even the Assyrian rulers, who impress one while con-
ducting their wars as bereft of all softer emotions, declare that
their highest aim is to spread plenty and happiness.5 Senna-
cherib calls himself a king who ' loves righteousness,' 6 and he,
as well as his predecessors and successors, busies himself with
actually restoring the rights of those of his subjects who have
been wrongfully deprived of their possessions.
The standard of private morality was high both in Babylonia
and Assyria. The legal and commercial tablets reveal that
proper consideration was given to the treatment of woman —
a most satisfactory index of ethical conditions.7 She could
hold property and dispose of it. Before the courts, her status
did not differ materially from that of the male population. The
husband could not divorce his wife without sufficient cause, and
children owed obedience to the mother as well as to the father.8
1 Babylonian and Assyrian kings alike speak constantly of their fear of the gods.
See the passages in Delitzsch's Assyrisches Handworterbuch, pp. 526, 527, to which
many more could be added.
2 See, e.g., Nebuchadnezzar, IR. 53, col. i. 1. 31.
3 IVR. 60* B obv. 25. 4 IVR. 60* C obv. 14.
6 So Sargon cylinder, 11. 34-42.
6 IR. 37, col. i. 1. 4.
7 See the writer's remarks in Oriental Studies of the Oriental Club of Philadel-
phia, pp. 119-121. '
8 See the so-called family laws (as early as the days of Hammurabi) in Meissner's
Beitr'dge ztim Altbabylonischen Privatrecht, p. 15, where the punishment in the
case of the son who casts aside his mother is specifically referred to.
CONCLUSION. 695
Polygamy, as a matter of course, prevailed, but it is an error to
suppose that polygamy is inconsistent with high ideals of family
life, even though it does not lead to the highest ideals.
Hatred, lying, cheating, using false measures, removing
boundaries, adultery, insincerity are denounced in the incanta-
tion texts,1 and in accord with this standard, we see in the
recordsuits of lawsuits and agreements between parties 2 clear
indications of the stringent laws that prevailed in order to
protect citizens against infringement of their rights. It comes
as a surprise, but also as a welcome testimony to the efficacy
of justice in Assyria, to find Ashurbanabal emphasizing the
fact that he established ordinances so that the strong should
do no harm to the weak.3
The institution of slavery flourished in Babylonia and Assy-
ria throughout all periods of their history,4 but there were
various grades of slaves. Some classes differed but little from
that of servants, indentured for a longer or shorter period for
certain services. The temple slaves appear to have largely
belonged to this class. Mild treatment of slaves is enjoined
and was the rule. The slaves are often the confidential agents
of their masters who attend to the business affairs of the latter.
We find slaves holding property in their own right. Con-
tracts entered into by them are legal and binding. Injuries
inflicted upon them by their masters are punished, and they are
protected against losses and mishaps encountered while in ser-
vice. While we have no evidence to show that the laws of
Assyria were on a lower ethical plane than those of Babylonia,
still, as the pupils and imitators of the Babylonians in almost
everything pertaining to culture and religion, the general tone
of life in Assyria was hardly as high as in the south. The war-
1 See, e.g., p. 291.
2 See the admirable discussions on Babylonian jurisprudence in Kohler and
Peiser's Aus dem Babylonischcn Rechtslcben (parts i.-iii., Leipzig, 1890-97).
3 S. A. Strong in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1891, p. 460.
4 See on this subject Meissner, DC Servitute Babylomco-Assyriaca, pp. 3, 4, 4°~49-
696 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
like spirit of the rulers is but a symptom of the fiercer charac-
ter of the people.
The tendency towards monotheism in the religion of Baby-
lonia and Assyria has been referred to.. We must remember
that it was only a tendency. No decided steps in this direc-
tion were ever taken. Both in the south and in the north, this
tendency is but the expression of the preeminent rank accorded
to Marduk and Ashur, respectively. The independent exist-
ence of two heads in the combined pantheon was sufficient to
prevent the infusion of an ethical spirit into this monotheistic
tendency ; and unless a monotheistic conception of the uni-
verse is interpreted in an ethical sense, monotheism (or monol-
atry) has no great superiority, either religiously or philosophi-
cally, over polytheism.
From the standpoint of religious doctrine, accordingly, the
religion of Babylonia and Assyria does not occupy a unique
position. In this respect, the Egyptian religion reaches a
higher level. For all that, the influence exerted by the reli-
gion that developed in the Euphrates Valley was profound and
lasting. We have had occasion in various chapters of this
work to point out the close analogies existing between the
thoughts, tradition, and practices of the Hebrews and the Baby-
lonians.1 A proper study of the Hebrew religion is closely
bound up with an investigation of the religious antiquities
of Babylonia ; and as our knowledge of these antiquities
increases, it will be found that not only are Hebrews and
Babylonians equipped with many common possessions when
starting out upon their intellectual careers, but that, at different
times and in diverse ways, the stimulus to religious advance
came to the Hebrews from the ancient centers of thought and
worship in the Euphrates Valley. This influence was particu-
larly strong during the period of Jewish history known as Baby-
lonian exile. The finishing touches to the structure of Judaism
1 See especially chapters xxi., xxv., and xxvi.
CONCLUSION. 697
— given on Babylonian soil1 — reveal the Babylonian trademark.
Ezekiel, in many respects the most characteristic Jewish figure
of the exile, is steeped in Babylonian theology and mysticism ;
and the profound influence of Ezekiel is recognized by modern
scholarship in the religious spirit that characterizes the Jews
upon the reorganization of their commonwealth.
It would be a mistake, however, to suppose that what Baby-
lonia gave to others was always the best she had to offer.
Degrading tendencies, too, found an entrance into post-exilic
Judaism through Babylonian influence. Close contact of Jews
with Babylonians served to make the former more accessible to
the popular beliefs in incantations and in the power of demons
than they would otherwise have been. Not that the Jews (as
little as any other people) were ever entirely free from super-
stitious practices ; but, living in an atmosphere charged, so to
speak, with magic and astrology, it was inevitable that even the
best among them should be infected by customs that they daily
witnessed. In the Babylonian Talmud, the references to evil
spirits are numerous. Specific incantations are introduced, and
an elaborate system of angelology and demonology forms a
feature of Talmudical Judaism in which, by the side of Per-
sian influences,2 we may detect equally strong traces of Baby-
lonian ideas. In the upper strata of the ruins of Nippur,
hundreds of clay bowls were found, inscribed with Jewish
inscriptions, in the Aramaic dialect that was spoken by the
Babylonian Jews.3 Similar bowls were found elsewhere in the
mounds of the Euphrates Valley.4 These bowls indicate
the presence of Jews in various parts of the country.5 Placed
1 See p. 6n.
2 See Kohut, Die Jiidische Angelologie und D'dmonologic in ihrer Abhdngig-
keit vom Parsismus (Leipzig, 1866).
3 Peters' Nippur, pp. 182, 395.
4 See, e.g., Layard, Nineveh and Babylon (New York edition, 1853), p. 509.
5 On the extent of the settlements of Jews in Nippur, see Hilprecht, Cuneiform
Texts, ix. 27, 28.
698 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
in the graves as a protection for the dead against evil spirits,
the inscriptions contain formulas of denunciation against the
demons that constitute a striking parallel to the incantation
texts of ancient Babylonia. Some of the demons are identi-
cal with those occurring in these texts, and by the side of the
inscriptions, there are illustrations l and magical designs to
which parallels exist on the Babylonian tablets.
This custom of endeavoring to secure protection for the
dead through the power of the curses and propitiatory phrases
inscribed on bowls continued in vogue as late as the ninth
century at the least, and perhaps considerably later. There
are indications also that Babylonian ideas found an entrance
into the Jewish Kabbala, — the strange mystic system of the
middle ages, the sources of which are to be sought in the
apocalyptic chapters of Ezekiel and Daniel.
Christianity as well as Judaism felt the fascination of the
mystic lore of Babylonia. Gunkel2 has demonstrated the
Babylonian origin of the myth embodied in the twelfth chapter
of Revelations. This myth is but another form of the Marduk-
Tiamat contest, which, it will be recalled, is the chief episode
in the Babylonian creation f epic.' 3 More significant is the
influence exerted by the religious ideas of Babylonia upon
the various Gnostic sects that arose within the Christian
Church. That the source of Gnosticism was to be sought
in Mesopotamia was always recognized by scholars, but
until the discovery of Babylonian literature, it was customary
to seek for Jewish influences in the formation of the various
Gnostic sects. Kessler4 was the first to demonstrate clearly
the dependence of the leading ideas of Gnosticism upon
1 So, e.g., on some of the bowls in the University of Pennsylvania collection, crude
pictures of Bel-Marduk and Ishtar are portrayed.
2 Schopfung iind Chaos, pp. 381-397.
3 See pp. 432 scq.
4 " Ueber Gnosis und die Altbabylonische Religion," Verhandlungen des fiinf-
ten Orientalisten Congress, 1881, ii. 288-305.
CONCLUSION. 699
the Babylonian cosmology and the conceptions deveolped
with reference to the gods. More recently, Anz1 has under-
taken a renewed investigation of the subject, and, approaching
the theme from various points of view, reaches conclusions
confirmatory of Kessler's thesis. All of the Gnostic sects have
certain fundamental doctrines in common, such as the dwelling
of God in the abyss,2 the migration of the soul after death
through seven zones, the emanation of aeons from a supreme
aeon.3 All these doctrines exhibit such close affinities with
Babylonian ideas as to warrant the assertion that the religion
of Babylonia survives in Gnosticism ; and since, as we know,
Babylonian culture and customs maintained an undisturbed
existence almost to the threshold of our era, there is no need
to go back to the older periods of the Babylonian religion to
find the connecting link, uniting Gnosticism with the Babylonian
religion. The spread and influence of the Gnostic sects was
notoriously wide. It is sufficient to recall the chief centers of
Gnostic schools of thought in Antioch, Edessa, and Alexandria
and the various branches of the powerful sect of the Ophites.
The influence of these schools extended into Greece and Rome.
While the Gnostic sects disappear in the sixth century, the
influence of Gnosticism can be followed down to the twelfth
century, — a significant testimony to the enduring qualities of
Babylonian doctrines.
In the ancient world, prior to the rise of Christianity,
Egypt, Persia, and Greece felt the influence of the Baby-
lonian religion. Budge4 is of the opinion that many of the
magic practices carried on in the Egyptian temples are to
be traced back to the incantation rituals perfected by the
Babylonian priests. In view of the early contact between
1 Zur Frage nach dent Ursprimg des Gnostizismus (Leipzig, 1897).
2 I.e., Ea dwelling in the Apsu. See p. 430.
8 Anu, the source of all gods. See p. 417.
4 The Life and Exploits of Alexander the Grea/, pp. xii. seq.
700 BABYLONIAN-ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
Egypt and Babylonia, as revealed by the El-Amarna tablets,
there were certainly abundant opportunities for the infusion of
Babylonian views and customs into Egyptian cults. In Persia,
the Mithra cult reveals the unmistakable influence of Baby-
lonian conceptions ; 1 and if it be recalled what a degree of
importance the mysteries connected with this cult acquired
among the Romans, another link will be added connecting the
ramifications of ancient culture with the civilization of the
Euphrates Valley. The strong admixture of Semitic elements
both in early Greek mythology and in Grecian cults is now so
generally admitted by scholars as to require no further com-
ment.2 These Semitic elements are to a large extent more
specifically Babylonian. The spread of the Gilgamesh epic
and of the Ishtar cult into Asia Minor and Greece may be
instanced as illustrations of Babylonian influence ; and granting
that the Phoenicians acted largely as the mediators in carrying
these ideas to the Greek settlements, still there must have
been influences at work long before this direct contact with
Semitic culture that prepared the way for the ready acceptance
which Semitic conceptions and Semitic practices found. The
time has not yet come for pronouncing an opinion as to the
influence exerted by Babylonia upon lands in the distant East.
The theory of DeLacouperie 3 and Ball, which proposes to
trace the Chinese script to the hieroglyphic system of Baby-
lonia, is still to be tested. Early commercial contact between
the Euphrates Valley and India is maintained as a probable
theory by several scholars,4 and the possibility, therefore, of
the spread of the religious ideas of Babylonia to the distant
East is not to be rejected. Patient research and the additional
1 See Anz, as above, pp. 78-85.
2 R. Brown, Semitic Influence in Hellenic Mythology (London, 1898).
3 Western Origin of the Early Chinese Civilization (London, 1894).
4 A paper on this subject was announced by Jas. Kennedy at the Eleventh Inter-
national Congress of Orientalists.
CONCLUSION, 701
discoveries (which are constantly being made) will alone place
us in a position some day to give a definite answer to the ques-
tion. Whatever that answer may be, the verdict as to the high
quality and profound influence of the religion that arose in the
valley of the Euphrates and that flourished for several millen-
niums will not be altered.
To show the general indebtedness of Grecian, Roman,
mediaeval, and even modern civilization to Babylonian culture
lies beyond the range of this work, but the profound impres-
sion made upon the ancient world by the remarkable manifes-
tations of religious thought in Babylonia and by the religious
activity that prevailed in that region is but an index of the
influence that must have been exerted in other directions by
the varied intellectual activity that converted a district, exposed
to the by no means tender mercies of the elements, into one of
the most notable illustrations of the power and achievements
of man.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
NOTE.
THE bibliography is arranged in nine sections, the order adopted
corresponding to the broad subdivisions of the book. The beginning
is therefore made :
(1) With references to the most important or most useful publica-
tions, dealing with the excavations conducted in Babylonia and
Assyria, the method of decipherment of the cuneiform inscriptions,
the general history of Babylonia and Assyria, and the general aspects
of the Babylonian-Assyrian culture. This section corresponds to the
first two chapters of the book.
(2) The second section is devoted to books, monographs, articles,
and chapters in bot>ks, dealing with the general subject of the Baby-
lonian-Assyrian religion.
In neither of these two sections have I aimed at being exhaustive,
though the second will be found, I think, to include almost everything
of any value.
The detailed bibliography begins with the following section. Corre-
sponding again to the treatment of the subject in the book, I take up
in succession :
(3) The Pantheon.
(4) Religious Texts.
(5) Cosmology.
(6) Gilgamesh Epic (including the Deluge episode).
(7) Beliefs and Customs (Views of Life after Death, Funeral
Rites, Legends, Ethics, etc.}.
(8) Temples and Cult.
(9) Bearings of the Babylonian-Assyrian Religion on the Old
Testament, and General Influence Exerted by the Religion.
Of these seven sections, all but the last aim at being exhaustive.
It was not always easy to decide into what division a particular ref-
706 NOTE.
erence belonged, but I have been generally guided by the needs of
students for whom this portion of the bibliography is particularly
intended.
The fifth and sixth sections should be taken together ; and simi-
larly the seventh and eighth, while the fourth section should of course
be consulted in connection with the third, fifth, sixth, seventh, and
eighth.
Under each section the authors named are arranged in alphabetical
order. Occasionally, I have added some comments to the reference
given, as a guide or a warning to students. In a subject like Assyri-
ology, where new discoveries are constantly being made and progress
in the interpretation of texts is steadily going on, it is inevitable that
views and translations should be subject to modification — sometimes
slight, but frequently significant. I have endeavored to avoid repe-
tition of references. In a few cases this was unavoidable. In the
second section portions of books are referred to, which by virtue of
their character as very general works had to be assigned a place also
in the first section. Two or three of the references in the fourth
section had to be repeated elsewhere ; and I should also add that
there are a few references which I have been unable to verify.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
The following abbreviations are employed :
AB = Assyriologische Bibliothek, ed. by Friedrich Delitzsch and Paul
Haupt.
AD = Andover Review.
AI = Academic des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres.
AJP = American Journal of Philology.
AJT = American Journal of Theology.
AJSL = American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures.
AL = Delitzsch 's Assyrische Lesestiicke. (3d ed.)
A PC = Annales de Philosophic Chretienne.
BA = Beitrage zur Assyriologie.
BAZ = Beilage zur Allgemeinen Zeitung (Munich).
15()R = Babylonian and Oriental Record.
BW = Biblical World.
CR = Comptes Rendus de 1'Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres.
DR = Deutsche Rundschau.
DRe = Deutsche Revue.
ET = Expository Times.
FLJ = Folk Lore Journal.
H = Hebraica.
I AQR = Imperial and Asiatic Quarterly Review.
ICO = International Congress of Orientalists.
JA = Journal Asiatique.
JAOS = Journal of the American Oriental Society.
JHUC = Johns Hopkins University Circulars.
JRAS = Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.
JTVI = Journal of the Transactions of the Victoria Institute.
KAA = Koninklijke Akaclemie van Wetenschappen (Amsterdam).
KAW = Konigliche Akaclemie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin.
M = Museon.
MVG = Mittheilungen der Vorderasiatischen Gesellschaft.
OTS = Old Testament Student.
PAOS = Proceedings of the American Oriental Society.
708 BIBLIOGRAPHY.
PR = Presbyterian Review.
PSBA = Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology.
R = Rawlinson's ' Selection from the miscellaneous Inscriptions of Western
Asia.' (London 1861-1891.) 5 vols.
RA = Revue d'Assyriologie et d'Archeologie Orientale.
RAr = Revue Archeologique.
RB = Revue Biblique.
RC = Revue Critique.
RHR= Revue de 1'Histoire des Religions.
RIA = Royal Irish Academy.
RP = Records of the Past.
RR = Revue des Religions.
RS = Revue Semitique.
RT = Recueil de Travaux relatifs a la Philologie et a 1'Archeologie
Egyptiennes et Assyriennes.
SST = Sunday School Times.
TSBA = Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology.
TZ = Theologische Zeitblatter.
WZKM = Wiener Zeitschrift fiir die Kunde des Morgenlandes.
Z A •= Zeitschrif t fiir Assyriologie.
ZATW = Zeitschrift fur die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft.
ZDMG = Zeitschrift der Deutsch-Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft.
ZK = Zeitschrift fiir Keilschriftforschung.
Periodicals, the volumes of which correspond to years, are quoted by the years ;
others, by the volumes, or by series, or by series and volumes.
Roman numerals indicate volumes, except in the case of PAOS, where they indi-
cate pages; Arabic numerals indicate' pages or plates.
I.
EXCAVATIONS. — METHOD OF DECIPHERMENT. — HISTORY OF BABYLONIA
AND ASSYRIA. — ORIGIN AND GENERAL ASPECTS OF BABYLONIAN AND
ASSYRIAN CULTURE. — GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY.
(a) Excavations and Decipherment.
KAULEN, FR. — Assyrian und Babylonien nach den neuesten Ent-
deckungen. (4th ed. Freiburg 1891.)
[Popular account of excavations, method of decipherment, Babylonian
literature and architecture. A work in English of this character is much to be
desired. See also HOMMEL, F. — Geschichte Babyloniens und Assyriens.
Berlin 1885. pp. 30-134; EVETTS, B. A. — New Light on the Holy Land.
London 1891. pp. 79-129.]
BIBLIOGRAPHY. 709
(b) History.
DUNCKER, MAX. — Geschichte des Alterthums. Vols. I. and II.
(5th ed. Berlin 1878.)
[Also English translation of earlier edition.]
HOMMEL, F. — Geschichte Babyloniens und Assyriens. (Berlin 1885.)
- Geschichte des alten Morgenlandes. (Stuttgart 1895.)
[Chapters I., IV.-VIII.]
LENORMANT, FRANCOIS [and ERNEST BABELON]. — Histoire an-
cienne de 1'Orient. Vol. IV. (9th ed. Paris 1885.)
MASPERO, G. — The Dawn of Civilization : Egypt and Chaldaea.
(London 1894.)
The Struggle of the Nations : Egypt, Syria, and Assyria.
(London 1896.)
[Replacing earlier historical works of this author.]
MEYER, ED. — Geschichte des Alterthums. Vol. I. (Stuttgart 1884.)
MUERDTER und DELITZSCH. — Kurzgefasste Geschichte Babylo-
niens und Assyriens. (2d ed. Stuttgart 1891.)
RAGOZIN, Z. — (i) The Story of Chaldea. (2) The Story of Assyria.
(New York 1886-1887.)
RAWLINSON, GEORGE. — The Five Great Monarchies of the Ancient
Eastern World. Vols. I.-III. (4th ed. London 1879.)
[Antiquated, but still of some use.]
ROGERS, R. W. — Outlines of the History of Early Babylonia.
(Leipzig 1895.)
SCHMIDT, VALDEMAR. — Assyriens og Aegyptens gamle Historic.
(Copenhagen 1872-1877.)
[PP. 347-461.]
TIELE, C. P. — Babylonisch-Assyrische Geschichte. (Gotha 1886.)
[The best history that has as yet been published.]
WACHSMUTH, CURT. — Einleitung in das Studium der alten Ge-
schichte. (Leipzig 1895.)
[pp. 365-403 " Babylonier und Assyrier," — indication of ancient and mod-
ern sources for the study.]
WINCKLER, HUGO. — Geschichte Babyloniens und Assyriens. (Leip-
zig 1892.)
710 BIBLIOGRAPHY.
(c) Origin and General Aspects of Bal>y Ionian-Assyrian Culture.
BAUMSTARK, A. — Babylon and Babylonia.
[In Pauly-Wissowa's Real Encyclopaedie, II. cols. 2667-2718.]
BEZOLD, C. — Assyria.
\Ib. II. cols. 1751-1771.]
HOMMEL, F. — Der Babylonische Ursprung der Aegyptischen Kul-
tur. (Munich 1892.)
IHERING, RUDOLPH VON. - - Vorgeschichte der Indo-Europaer.
(Leipzig 1894.) 2tes Buch, cArier und Semiten,' pp. 93-305.
[A most suggestive sketch of the development and influence of Babylonian
culture ; also in English translation, ' The Evolution of the Aryan.' New
York 1897.]
NIKEL, JOHANNES. — Herodot und die Keilschriftforschung. (Pad-
erborn 1896.)
PEISER, F. E. — Skizze der Babylonischen Gesellschaft. (Berlin
1896.)
[Brief but capital sketch of Babylonian culture and social life.]
(d) Bibliography.
BEZOLD, C. - - Kurzgefasster Ueberblick iiber die Babylonisch-
Assyrische Literatur. (Leipzig 1886.)
[A new edition is needed of this most valuable work.]
DELITZSCH, FRIEDRICH. — f Litteratura ' in the appendix to his
f Assyrian Grammar.' (London 1889.) pp. 55-78.
KAULEN, FR. — Assyrien und Babylonien (as above), pp. 248-266.
LINCKE, A. — Bericht iiber die Fortschritte der Assyriologie in den
I Jahren 1886-1893. (Leipzig 1894.)
Full bibliographical reports are given in :
(1) The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures
(University of Chicago ; quarterly).
(2) Jahrbiicher fur Geschichte, ed. by I. Jastrow and E. Berner
(Berlin ; annual).
(3) Orientalische Bibliographic, ed. by Lucian Scherman (Berlin ;
semi-annual).
BIBLIOGRAPHY. 711
(4) Zeitschrift fur Assyriologie, ed. by C. Bezold (Munich ; quarterly).
(5) Revue d' Assyriologie et d'Archdologie Orientale, ed. by J. Oppert
and E. Ledrain (Paris ; published at irregular intervals).
• II.
GENERAL WORKS AND ARTICLES ON THE RELIGION OF BABYLONIA AND
ASSYRIA.
BERGER, P. — fAssyrie' in Lichtenberger's 'Encyclopedic des Sci-
ences Religieuses.'
BOSCAWEN, W. ST. CHAD. — Lectures on the Religion of Babylonia
[abstract] BOR III. 118-120, 150-163.
- The Religion of Babylonia in f Religious Systems of the World.'
(Swan Sonnenschein & Co. 1896. pp. 15-25.)
DELITZSCH, FRIEDRICH. — The Religion of the Kassites. H 1885.
189-191.
[From Delitzsch's ' Sprache der Kossaer.' Leipzig 1884. pp. 51-54.]
EERDMANS, B. D. — • Babylonian-Assyrian Religion.
[In ' Progress,' a publication issued by the University Association, Chicago,
111. 3d series, No. 6 (1897), pp. 403-4 1 5.]
FINZI, FELICE. — Ricerche per lo Studio dell' Antichita Assira.
(Rome 1872.) Libro Secondo. Mitologia, pp. 433-554-
[General sketch of the religion, more particularly of the pantheon and
legends of Babylonia and Assyria.]
GUYARD, S. — Bulletin de la Religion Assyro-Babylonienne. RHR
1.327-345; V. 253-278.
HALEVY, JOSEPH. — La Religion des Anciens Babyloniens et son
plus recent historien M. Sayce. RHR XVII. 169-218.
[Elaborate review of Sayce's work on the ' Religion of the Babylonians,
with summary of Halevy's own views.]
HEUZEY, LEON. — Description of Monuments in De Sarzec's
'Decouvertes en Chald^e.' (Paris 1889-1891.) pp. 77-240.
[Contains much valuable information on religious art, votive objects, repre-
sentations of religious ceremonies. The publication is not yet complete.]
HEWITT, J. F. — Early History of Northern India, Part III. JRAS,
1889, 527-583-
[An attempt to trace the origin of Indian civilization to emigrants from
southern Babylonia. The investigation has little value.]
712 BIBLIOGRAPHY.
HINCKS, EDWARD. — On the Assyrian Mythology. RIA Trans-
actions XXII. Polite Literature, 1854, 405-422.
HOMMEL, F. — Die Semitischen Volker und Sprachen. (Leipzig
1883.) pp. 356-396. Die Religion der alten Babylonier,
pp. 266-356. Sprache und Literatur der Sumero-Akkadier.
[Specimens of hymns and incantations.]
JEREMIAS, FRIEDRICH. — r Die Babylonier und Assyrier ' in Chantepie
de la Saussaye's f Lehrbuch der Religionsgeschichte.' (2d ed.
Freiburg 1897.) I. 163-221.
[An excellent sketch of the Babylonian-Assyrian religion.]
LENORMANT, FRANCOIS. — Les Sciences Occultes en Asie. I. La
Magie chez les Chaldeens etles Origines Accadiennes. II. La
Divination et la Science des Presages chez les Chalde'ens. (Paris
1874-1875.)
[Also in English translation (in part) under the title ' Chaldaean Magic.'
London 1877.]
LoiSY, A. — Etudes sur la Religion Chaldeo-Assyrienne. (RR,
1890-1892.)
[Seven articles.]
MEYER, ED. — Geschichte des Alterthums. 1.174-183. (Stuttgart
1884.)
MURDTER und DELITZSCH. — Kurzgefasste Geschichte Babyloniens
und Assyriens. (2d ed. Stuttgart 1891.) pp. 23-53.
OPPERT, J. — f Babylone et Chaldee ' in Lichtenberger's f Encyclo-
pedic des Sciences Religieuses.'
PINCHES, T. G. — The Religious Ideas of the Babylonians. JTVI
XXVIII. 1-22.
PRESSENSE, E. DE. — La Religion Chalde'o-Assyrienne. RHR XIV.
73-94-
RAWLINSON, GEORGE. — The Religions of the Ancient World.
(New York 1883.)
[Chapter II. — The Religion of the Assyrians and Babylonians.]
The Religion of Assyria in r Religious Systems of the World.'
(Swan Sonnenschein & Co. London 1896.) pp. 26-41.
RAWLINSON, H. C. — The Religion of the Babylonians and Assyrians.
[In George Rawlinson's ' The History of Herodotus.' London 1859. Vol.
I. Essay X.]
SIBLIOGRAIUIY. 713
SAYCE, A. H. — The Origin and Growth of Religion as Illustrated
by the Religion of the Ancient Babylonians. (London 1887.)
[Brilliant and suggestive, but unreliable in details. The translations
attached to the volume are to be accepted with caution. See Halevy's elab-
orate review, RHR XVII. 169-218.]
STRONG, S. A. — Die Religion der Babylonier.
[Announced to appear.]
SCHWALLY, F. — ' Die Religion der Babylonier und Assyrier,' in
Friedrich von Hellwald's < Kulturgeschichte in ihrer natiirlichen
Entwicklung bis zur Gegenwart.' (4th ed. Leipzig 1896.)
I. 423-433-
TIELE, C. P. — Babylonisch-Assyrische Geschichte. (1886.) pp.
5 1 5-557- Religion: Die Mythologie und Glaubenslehre.
- Vergelijkende Geschiedenis der Aegyptische en Mesopotamische
Godsdiensten. (Amsterdam 1869.) pp. 282-413. De Gods-
dienst van Babel en Assur.
[French translation (abridged) by G. Collins, ' Histoire Compared des An-
ciennes Religions de 1'Egypte et des Peuples Semitiques.' Paris 1882.
pp. 145-255. La Religion de Babylonie et de 1'Assyrie. Also English trans-
lation by J. Ballingue. 1882.]
— Geschichte der Religion im Alterthum bis auf Alexander den
Grossen. (Gotha 1895.) 1.127-216. Die Religion in Baby-
lonien und Assyrien.
[Also in Dutch. Amsterdam 1893.]
III.
PANTHEON, GODS, SPIRITS, HEROES.
BALL, C. J. — Tammuz, the Swine-god. PSBA XVI. 195-200.
BARTON, G. A. — The Semitic Ishtar Cult. H IX. 131-165; X.
i-73-
- Was Ilu Ever a Distinct Deity in Babylonia? H X. 206, 207.
BEZOLD, C. — A Cuneiform List of Gods. PSBA XI. 173, 174;
see also IX. 377.
— Note on the god Addu or Daddu. Ib. p. 377.
- Ueber Keilinschriftliche Babylonisch-Assyrische Gottertypen.
ZA IX. 114-125, 405-409.
714 BIBLIOGRAPHY.
CHWOLSON, D. A. — Ueber Tammuz und die Menschenverehrung
bei den alten Babyloniern. (St. Petersburg 1860.)
DE CARA, CAESARE. — Identificazione d' Iside e d' Osiride con Ishtar
ed Ashur. 8th ICO, Section Semitique 2me Fasc, 275-278.
DELITZSCH, FRIEDRICH. — Article on * Thammuz ' in ' Calwer, Bibel-
lexikon.' (Calw und Stuttgart 1885.)
— Articles on Dagon, Merodach, Nebo, Nergal, Nisroch, Rim-
mon. Ib.
EERDMANS, B. — Goddess A (or Malkatu) in * Melekdienst en
Vereering von Hemellichamen in Israel's Assyrische Periode.'
(Leiden 1891.) pp. 73-82.
GUYARD, S. — Le Dieu Assyrien Ninib. RC, 1879, jer Mars.
HOFFMANN, G. — Neue und Alte Gotter (Nin-gal, Nusku, Ea, Nabu,
Gibil, Ninib, Nergal, Sin). ZA XI. 258-292.
[Chiefly discussions of symbols of these deities found upon seal cylinders.]
HOMMEL, FRITZ. — Die Identitat der altesten Babylonischen und
Aegyptischen Gottergenealogie und der Babylonische Ursprung
der Aegyptischen Kultur. 9th ICO II. 218-244.
- Note on Ninib. PSBA XIX. 312-314.
JASTROW, MORRIS, Jr. — On the Assyrian Kuduru and the Ring of
the Sun-god in the Abu-Habba Tablet. PAOS, Oct. 1888.
XCV.-XCVIII.
JENSEN, P. — Ueber einige Sumero-Akkadische und Babylonisch-
Assyrische Gotternamen. ZA, 1886. I. 1-24.
[Anshar, Ashur, Igigi, Duzu, or Tammuz. Cf. Schrader's remarks, ib.
pp. 209-217.]
- Die Gotter Amurru (u) und Ashratu. ZA XI. 302-305.
- Nik(k)al-Sharratu ; Sharratu in Harran. ZA XI. 293-301.
JEREMIAS, A. — Articles on Ashur, Marduk, Nebo, Nergal, Shamash,
Sin, Tammuz in Roscher's 'Ausfiihrliches Lexikon der Griechi-
schen und Romischen Mythologie.'
[Articles on Adar, Anu, Anunnaki, Ea, Etana announced to appear in the
supplement to Roscher's ' Ausfiihrliches Lexikon,' etc.}
LENORMANT, FRANCOIS. — II mito di Adone-Tammuz nei documenti
cuneiformi. 4th ICO, 1878. I. 143-173.
Sur le nom de Tammuz. ist ICO II. 149-165.
Les Dieux de Babylone et de 1'Assyrie. (Paris 1877.)
BIBLIOGRAPHY. 715
LUZZATO, P. — L'Existence cTun Dieu Assyrien nomme' Semiramis.
JA, 4th Series, XVII. 465-480.
LYON, D. G. — Was there at the Head of the Babylonian Pantheon
a Deity Bearing the Name El? PAOS, May 1883, clxiv.-
clxviii.
- The Pantheon of Assurbanipal. PAOS, Oct. 1888, xciv., xcv.
MENANT, J. — Le Mythe de Dagon. RHR XI. 295-301.
[Also in ' Les Pierres Grav6es de la Haute Asie. Recherches de la Glyp-
tique Orientale.' Paris 1883.]
- Le Panthdon Assyro-Chalde'en. Les Beltis. RHR VIII. 489-
519.
[The representation of goddesses engraved on seal cylinders. See also
'Les Pierres Gravies de la Haute Asie,' etc., as above.]
MEYER, EDUARD. — Articles Baal and Astarte (with references
to Bel and Ishtar) in Roscher's ' Ausfiihrlich.es Lexikon der
Griechischen und Romischen Mythologie.'
NICOLSKY, M. V. — La Deesse des Cylindres et des Statuettes Baby-
lonienries. RAr, 3™e serie, XX. 36-43.
OFFORD, J. — The Nude Goddess in Assyro-Babylonian Art. PS PA
XVIII. 156, 157.
OPPERT, JULES. — La Vraie Assimilation de la Divinite de Tello.
CR, 1884, 231-233.
- Le Dieu de Sirtella [i.e., Lagash]. ZK II. 261, 262.
[M. Oppert accepts the reading Nin-girsu first proposed by Arthur Amiaud.
/£. pp. 151, 152.]
- Adad. ZA IX. 310-314.
[Discussion of pronunciation. See also Hilprecht, ' Assyriaca,' pp. 76-78,
and Jastrow, AJSL XII. 143.]
PINCHES, THEO. G. — Note upon the divine name A. PSBA XIII.
25-27, 42-56.
- Was Ninib the Most High God of Salem ? Ib. XVI. 225-229.
- The Pronunciation of the Name of the Plague-god, Urra not
Dibbarfa. BOR I. 207, 208.
[See Scheil, RT. XX. 57.]
- A Bilingual List of Assyrian Gods. Academy, 1887, No. 816.
[See Evetts, ib. No. 819.]
716 BIBLIOGRAPHY.
RAWLINSON, H. C. — Notes on Captain Durand's Report upon the
Islands of Bahrein. JRAS, 1880, 201-227.
[Contains important remarks on the origin of Ea worship at the Persian
Gulf, pp. 202-208.]
REISNER, GEORGE. — The Different Classes of Babylonian Spirits.
PAOS, April 1892, cxcv., cxcvi.
REVILLOUT, E. and V. — Istar Taribi. BOR II. 57-59.
ROBIOU, F. A. — A Study on Egyptian and Babylonian Triads.
IAQR, 1894.
SAYCE, A. H. — Who was Dagon? SST, 1893, No. 21..
- The God Ramman. ZA II. 331, 332.
SCHEIL, FR. V. — Le Dieu-roi Bur-Sin Planete. ZA XII. 265, 266.
- Ishtar sous la symbole de la vache. RT XX. 62.
- Le Culte de Gudea. RT XVIII. 64-74.
SCHRADER, E. — Die Gottin Ishtar als Malkatu und Sharratu. ZA
III. 353-364; IV. 74,75-
- Die Malkat hash-Shamayim und ihr Aramaisch-Assyrisches
Aequivalent. KAW Sitzungsberichte, 1886, 477-491.
[See also Stade in ZATW .VI. 123-132; 289-339; and Kuenen KAA
Afdeeling ' Letterkunde,' 1888, 157-189.]
TALBOT, H. Fox. — The. Legend of Ishtar Descending to Hades.
TSBA II. 179-212. See also RPI, 141-149.
THUREAU-DAUGIN, FR. — La Lecture de ITdeogramme AN-IM
(Ramman). JA, 9* Series, II. 385-393.
[See also Oppert, ib. pp. 393-396.]
TIELE, C. P. — La Deesse Ishtar surtout dans le mythe Babylonien.
6th ICO, Part II. Section I. 493-506.
[See also discussion in the Comptes Rendus of the Congress, pp. 87-91.]
Die Beteekenis van Ea en zijn verkoudung tot Marduk en Nabu.
KAA Verslagen en Mededeelingen 'Letterkunde,' 1887, 67-81.
WARD, W. H. — The Babylonian Gods in Babylonian Art. PAOS,
May 1890, xv.-xviii.
Was there a Babylonian Gate-god? Academy, 1888, No. 847.
WINCKLER, H. — Die Istar von Ninevein Egypten. MVG I. 286-289.
WITTE, J. DE. — Sur le nom de Thamouz attribue' a Adonis. M,
1887, 8 1 seq.
ZEHNPFUND, R. — Altbabylonische Cotter und Heldensagen. BAZ,
1891, Nos. 39, 40, 52, 56, 63.
BIB LI 'O GRAPH Y. 717
IV.
RELIGIOUS TEXTS.
Hymns, Incantations, Omens, Oractes, Prayers, Legends, Myths, Votive Texts.
BALL, C. J. — A Bilingual Hymn (IVR 46, 5-19) PSBA XV.
51-54-
A Babylonian Ritual Text. JRAS, 1892, 841-853.
BANKS, E. J. — Sumerisch-Babylonische Hymnen der von George
Reisner herausgegebenen Sammlung, umschrieben, iibersetzt
und erklart. (Breslau 1897.)
BARTON, G. A. — Esarhaddon's Account of the Restoration of Ish-
tar's Temple at Erech. PAOS, May 1891, cxxx.-cxxxii.
BERTIN, G. — Akkadian Hymn to the Setting Sun. RP, new series,
II. 190-193.
BEZOLD, C. — Remarks on Some Unpublished Cuneiform Syllabaries
with Respect to Prayers and Incantations written in Interlinear
Form. PSBA X. 418-423.
Translation and Analysis of a Hymn to the Sun-god (Sp III.).
RA I. 157-161.
BOISSIER, ALFRED. — Deux Documents Assyriens relatifs aux Pr£-
sages. RS I. 63-70, 168-172,
- Documents Assyriens relatifs aux Presages.
[Vols. I. and II., Paris 1894-1897. Vol. III. announced.]
- Notes d'Assyriologie. RS VI. 143-151.
[Two texts — a Prayer and an Incantation.]
BOSCAWEN, W. ST. CHAD. — The Babylonian Legend of the Ser-
pent Tempter. BOR IV. 251-255.
- Babylonian Teraphim. BOR I. 39, 40.
- The Legend of the Tower of Babel. RP III. 129-132 ; also
in the TSBA V. 303-312.
[The interpretation is erroneous.]
BRUNNOW, R. — Assyrian Hymns. ZA IV. 1-40, 225-258 ; V. 55-80.
[Hymns to Shamash, Marduk, and Ishtar.]
Unix;]-:, KR.NKST A. — Assyrian Incantations to Fire and Water.
RP XI. 133-138 ; also in TSBA VI. 420-435.
718 BIBLIOGRAl^HY.
CRAIG, JAS. A. — , Prayer of the Assyrian King Ashurbanipal. H X.
75-87.
— Assyrian and Babylonian Religious Texts, Vols. I. and II.
(Leipzig 1895-1897.) AB XIII.
[Announces also volumes of texts (i) Prayers to Shamash and Ramman,
and (2) Series ' Illumination of Bel.']
- K 69 (a hymn). ZA XI. 276.
— An Assyrian Incantation to the God Sin, cir. 650 B.C. H XI.
101-109.
UELATTRE, A. J. — The Oracles. Given in Favor of Esarhaddon.
RP, new series, III. 25-31 ; see also BOR III. 25-31.
DELITZSCH, FRIEDRICH. — Babylonisch-Assyrisches Psalmbuch.
[Announced to appear in the ' Abhandlungen der kdniglichen Gesellschaft
der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig.']
— Assyrische Lesestiicke. (Leipzig 1885. 3d ed.)
[Contains a selection of religious texts as follows : pp. 93-99, Creation tab-
lets; 99-109, Deluge episode ; 117, 118, Oracle to Esarhaddon; 130-132, In-
cantations; 134-136, Hymn to Ishtar.]
EVETTS, B. T. A. — An Assyrian Religious Text. PSBA X. 478,
479 and two plates.
[Apparently a royal prayer.]
HALEVY, J. — Assyrian Fragments. RP XL 157-162.
[Part of a hymn, of a penitential psalm, etc.]
- Documents religieux de 1'Assyrie et de la Babylonie. (Paris
1882.)
- Textes religieux Babyloniens en double Redaction. RS IV.
150-160, 245-251, 344-348.
— ' Les Inscriptions peints de Citium ' in f Melanges de Critique et
d'Histoire,' pp. 165-196.
[Translation in large part and discussion of Ishtar's descent into the
nether world.]
HARPER, EDWARD T. — Die Babylonischen Legenden von Etana,
Zu, Adapa und Dibbarra. BA II. 390-521.
[See also Academy 1891, No. 976.]
HAUPT, PAUL. — Akkadische und Sumerische Keilschrifttexte. (Leip-
zig 1881-1882.)
[Contains pp. 75-79, 82-1 06 Incantations; 79, 115-131 Hymns and Psalms.]
BIBLIOGRAPHY. 719
JASTROW, MORRIS, Jr. — A fragment of the Babylonian " Dibbarra "
Epic. Publications of the University of Pennsylvania. Series
in Philology, Literature, and Archaeology, Vol. I., No. 2. (Boston
1891.)
— A new Fragment of the Babylonian Etana Legend. BA III.
363-384-
JENSEN, P. — De Incantamentorum Sumerico-Assyrorum seriei quae
dicitur "surbu" Tabula VI. ZK I. 279-322 ; II. 15-61 ; also
306-311, 416-425.
[Appeared as a revised and separate publication under same title with the
addition of the words " commentatio Fhilologica." Munich, Straub, 1885.]
- Hymnen auf das Wiedererscheinen der drei grossen Lichtgotter.
ZA II. 76-94, 191-204.
[Hymns to Sin, Shamash, and Ishtar. A volume by Jensen, embodying
translation of religious texts is in course of preparation for Schrader's ' Keil-
schriftliche Bibliothek.']
JEREMIAS, A. — Die Hollenfahrt der Ishtar. Eine altbabylonische
Beschworungslegende. (Munich 1886.)
KING, L. W. — Babylonian Magic and Sorcery, being 'the Prayers
of the Lifting of the Hand.' (London 1896.)
- New Fragments of the Dibbarra Legend. ZA XL 50-62.
KNUDTZON, J. A. — Assyrische Gebete an den Sonnengott fur Staat
und konigliches Haus aus der Zeit Asarhaddons und Assurbani-
pals. Band I. Autographierte Texte ; Band II. Einleitung,
Umschrift und Erklarung Verzeichnisse. (Leipzig 1893.)
LENORMANT, FRANgois. — Chaldaean Hymns to the Sun. RP X.
119-128.
— Hymne au Soleil. Texte primitif Accadien. JA, 7tn Series,
XII. 378 ; XIII. 1-98 ; postscriptum ib. XIV. 264, 265.
- Une Incantation Magique Chaldeenne. RAr, 2<* Series, XXXIV.
254-262.
- Lettres Assyriologiques. 2*ne Sdrie Etudes Accadiennes, Vols.
II. and III. (Paris 1874-1879.)
[Contains numerous hymns and incantations accompanied by a French
translation.]
- Translations of religious texts in f Les Origines de 1'Histoire
d'apres la Bible et les Traditions des Peuples orientaux.' (Paris
1880-1882.) 2 vols.
720 BIBLIOGRAPHY.
LYON, D. G. — Assyrian and Babylonian Royal Prayers. PAOS,
October 1888. XCIIL, XCIV.
- On a Sacrificial Tablet from Sippar. PAOS, May 1886, xxx.
MESSERSCHMIDT, L. — Tabula VA. Th. 246, Babylonica Musei
Berolinensis primum editur commentarioque instruitur. (Kirch-
ham 1896.)
[A hymn.]
OPPERT, J. — 'Chants et Invocations' in Eichoff and David ' Chef
d'ceuvres litteraires de 1'Inde, de la Perse, de 1'Egypte et de la
Chine.' (Paris.) 11.211-219.
[Translations of selected prayers, hymns, and incantations.]
- Fragments Mythologiques. (Paris 1882.)
[Reprints of several articles.]
- Translation of III. Rawlinson, pi. 65, in JA, 6th Series, XVIII.
449-453-
- Hymnes en Sumerien et en Accadien ou Assyrien. ist ICO.
II. 217-224.
[A hymn to Ishtar in dialogue form.]
- Le Champ Sacre de la Deesse Nina. CR, 1893, 326-344. See
also ZA VII. 360-374.
[Contains important remarks about the goddess Nina in connection with
the text published by Hilprecht, ' Old Babylonian Inscriptions,' 1. 1, pis. 30, 31.]
- Traduction de Quelques Textes Assyriens. . . . Louange du
Dieu Nibir et de ses sept Attributions. 4th ICO I. 233-235.
— L'Immortalite de Fame chez les Chalde'ens. (Paris 1875.)
[Legend of Ishtar's descent to the lower world.]
Chant en Sumerien et en Assyrien sur une epidemic. JA, 7th
Series, I. 289-293.
[Translation of tablet K 1284 (incantation against Namtar) and of II R 19.]
Notice sur d'anciennes formules d' Incantation et autres dans
une langue anteYieure au Babylonien. JA, 7* Series, I. 1 13-122.
[Translation of II Rawl. 17, 18.]
— Babylonian legends found at Khorsabad. RP XI. 41-44.
[See also translations of various religious texts in' Expedition Scientifique
en Mesopotamie,' pp. 328-350.]
PEISER, F. E. — Ein Satz in den Beschworungsformem. ZA II.
102, 103.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. 721
PINCHES, T. G. — An Erechite's Lament. RP, new series, I. 84, 85.
[A penitential psalm with historical references; see also BOR I, 21-23.]
- The Oracle of Ishtar of Arbela. RP XI. 59-72 ; also RP,
new series, V. 129-140.
- Sin-Gashid's Gift to the Temple E-Ana. BOR I. 8-11. See
also RP, new series, I. 78-83.
— and E. A. W. BUDGE. — Some New Texts in the Babylonian
Character, relating Principally to the Restoration of Temples.
PSBA, 1884. pp. 179-182.
RAWLINSON, H. C. — A Selection from the Miscellaneous Inscrip-
tions of Western Asia. Vol. IV. 2d ed. revised (and with
additions) by T. G. Pinches. (London 1891.)
[This fourth volume of the publications of tablets in the British Museum
is almost exclusively devoted to religious texts. In the other volumes some
texts of this character will be found as follows: Vol. II. pis. 17-19, incan-
tations; 51-61, names and titles of gods and temples; miscellaneous. Vol.
III. pis. 61-65, astronomical and astrological reports, omen tablets and por-
tents ; 66-69, lists and titles of gods and temples ; miscellaneous. Vol. V.
pi. 31, omen tablets (with explanations) ; 43, titles of Nebo, etc. ; 46, No. 2,
lists'of gods and their epithets ; 47, prayer (with commentary) ; 48, 49, religious
calendar; 50,51, hymn to Shamash. Note also that many of the historical
texts in Vols. I.-V. contain invocations to gods.]
REISNER, GEORGE. — Sumerisch-Babylonische Hymnen nach Thon-
tafeln Griechischer Zeit. (Berlin 1896.) Konigliche Museen
zu Berlin. Mittheilungen aus den Orientalischen Sammlungen
No. X.
SAYCE, A. H. — Accadian Hymn to Istar. RP I. 155-160.
— Accadian Poem on the Seven Evil Spirits. Ib. IX. 144-148.
— An Accadian Liturgy. Ib. III. 125-130.
— An Accadian Penitential Hymn. Ib. VII. 151-156.
— Ancient Babylonian Charms. Ib. III. 145-154.
[Shurpu Series, 6th Tablet.]
— An Assyrian Talismanic Tablet. BOR III. 17, 18.
- Babylonian Augury by means of Geometrical Figures. TSBA
IV. 302-314.
- Fragment of an Assyrian Prayer after a Bad Dream. RP IX.
149-152.
722 BIBLIOGRAPHY.
SAYCE, A. H. — Babylonian Exorcisms. Ib. I. 131-135.
- Tables of Omens Furnished by Dogs and Births. Ib. V. 167-
176.
- The Dedication of three Babylonians to the service of the Sun-
god at Sippara. RP, new series, IV. 109-113.
[Interpretation false.]
The Overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah (Accadian Account).
RP XL 115-118.
[Title, translation, and interpretation alike fanciful.]
- Two Accadian Hymns. Ib. XL 129-132.
- Two Hymns to the Sun-god [in preface, pp. ix.-x., to RP, new
series, IV., 1890].
[Copious translations of magical texts, hymns, legends, etc., by Sayce in
Hibbert Lectures on ' The Religion of the Ancient Babylonians.' London
1887. See especially pp. 441-540.]
SCHEIL, F. V. — Psaume de Penitence Chaldeen inedit. RB, 1896,
75-78.
- Legende Chalde'enne trouvee a El-Amarna [Adapa]. RR
Mars-Avril 1891.
— Choix des Textes Religieux Assyriens. RHR XXXVI. 197-207.
- Fragments de Poe'sie lyrique Babylonienne. RB VI. 28-30.
— Fragment mythologique avec mention de Uddushu-namir patesi.
RT XX. 62, 63.
— Hymne Babylonien avec metre appartent. ZA XI. 291-298.
SCHRADER, E. — Die Hollenfahrt der Ishtar. Ein Altbabylonisches
Epos. (Giessen 1874.)
SMITH, S. A. — Miscellaneous Texts. (Leipzig 1887.) pp. 1-5,8-10.
[Portions of the Creation Series.]
STRONG, S. ARTHUR. — A Prayer of Assurbanipal. RP, new series,
VI. 102-106 ; also 9th ICO II. 199-208.
- Note on a Fragment of the Adapa Legend. PSBA XX. 274-
279.
— On Some Oracles to Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal. BA II.
627-645.
- Votive Inscriptions. RP, new series, IV. 90-95.
— A Hymn to Nebuchadnezzar. PSBA XX. 154-162.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. 723
TALBOT, H. Fox. — A Prayer and a Vision. TSBA I. 346-348 and
RP VII. 65-68.
[Ashurbanabal's prayer to Ishtar and dream sent by the goddess.]
— Assyrian Sacred Poetry. RP III. 131-138.
[Prayers and incantations.]
— Assyrian Talismans and Exorcisms. Ib. III. 139-144.
- War of the Seven Evil Spirits Against Heaven. Ib. V. 161-166.
[Incantation text.]
TALLQUIST, K. L. — Die Assyrische Beschworungsserie Maqlu.
(Leipzig 1894.)
WEISSBACH, F. H. — Ueber die ersten Tafeln im IV. Bande Rawlin-
sons.
[Announced.]
- Eine Sumerisch- Assyrische Beschworungsformel IV. Rawl. 16,
No. i in ' Melanges Charles de Harlez.' (Leiden 1896.)
pp. 360-371.
WINCKLER, H. and ABEL LUDWIG. — Thontafelfund von El-Amarna.
(Berlin 1891.)
[Vol. III. pp. 166, a and £, Legend of Adapa; see Erman in KAW Sitz-
ungsberichte XXIII. 585 ; Lehmann, ZA III. 380 ; other mythological frag-
ments, pp. 164-165.]
ZIMMERN, HEINRICH. — Babylonische Busspsalmen, umschrieben,
iibersetzt und erklart. (Leipzig 1885.) BA VI.
[Also published in part as a thesis.]
- Beitrage zur Kerrntniss der Babylonischen Religion. Erste
Lieferung. Die Beschworungstafeln Shurpu. (Leipzig 1896.)
AB XII.
— Zusatzbemerkungen zur Legende von Adapa. BA II. 437, 438.
— Hexenbeschworungen bei den Babyloniern. BAZ, 1891, No.
337-
— An Old Babylonian Legend from Egypt [Adapa]. SST, 1892,
No. 25.
724 BIBLIOGRAPHY.
V.
COSMOLOGY.
BARTON, G. A. — Tiamat. JAOS XV. 1-28 ; also PAOS, May
1890, xiii.-xv.
BRUNENGO, GIUSEPPE. — L'Impero di Babilonia e di Ninive. (2
vols. Prato 1885.) Capo I. La Cosmogonia de Caldei com-
parata alia Mosaica, pp. 67-85. Capo II. La Ribellione degli
Angeli e la Caduta del Uomo, {i.e., Marduk and Tiamat story),
pp. 86-108. Capo IV. La Storia del Diluvio, pp. 124-140.
BUDGE, E. A. W. — The Fourth Tablet of the Creation Series, relat-
ing to the fight between Marduk and Tiamat. PSBA VI. 5-1 1 .
- Fourth Tablet of the Creation Series. PSBA X. 86 and six pis.
DELITZSCH, FRIEDRICH. — Texte zur Weltschopfung und zur Auf-
lehnung und Bekampfung der Schlange Tiamat. AL, 3d ed.,
1885. pp. 93-99.
- Das Babylonische Weltschopfungsepos. (Leipzig 1896.)
ENGEL, MORITZ. — Die Losung der Paradiesfrage. (Leipzig 1885.)
HALEVY, J. — La Cosmologie Babylonienne d'apres M. Jensen.
RHRXXII. 180-208.
[Summary and critique of Jensen's ' Kosmologie der Babylonier.' ]
- Recherches Bibliques — L'Histoire des Origines d'apres la
Genese. Texte, Traduction et Commentaire. Tome I. Genese
I.-XXV. (Paris 1895.)
[Contains translations of the Babylonian Cosmological Texts, and discusses
their bearings on the O. T. narrative. A most suggestive work.]
- Recherches Bibliques — Chapter 28, La Creation et les Vicissi-
tudes du Premier Homme. RS I. 101-117, 193-202.
[Transliteration, translation, and discussion of the Babylonian Creation
Tablets.]
HOMMEL, F. — Eine Neugefundene Weltschopfungslegende. DR,
1892, 105-114; see also Neue Kirchliche Zeitung, I. 393 seq.,
II. 89 seq.
- The Oldest Cosmogony. SST, 1894, No. 7.
JENSEN, P. — Die Kosmologie der Babylonier. Studien und Mate-
rialien. (Strassburg 1890.)
BIBLIOGRAPHY. 725
JENSEN, P. — Ursprung und Geschichte des Tierkreises. DR, 1890,
I 12- 1 I 6.
LAJARD, F. — Fragments d'un Memoire sur le Systeme thdogonique
et cosmogonique des Assyriens ou des Chaldeens d'Assyrie.
JA, 2a Legend, a nature myth, 548,
544 ff. ; found on El-Amarna
tablets, 544; Adapa, son of Ea,
545; A. fighting the south wind,
545 ff. ; seconded by Tanimuz
and Gish-zida, 548-9; identified
with Marduk, 548; Adapa myth
compared with 3d chapter of Gen-
esis, 551.
Adar, i2th month, sacred to the
Seven Evil Spirits, 463; I5th
day, sacred to Shamash, Malkatu,
and Bunene, 685; compared with
Purim, 686.
Adar, ^ popular rather than theolog-
ical, 187.
Anshar, god, in the cosmology, 197,
410, 417; =Ashur, 197, 414-
5 ; A. and Kishar .created, 197,
410; builds Esharra, 198; A. and
Kishar intermediate betw. the
monsters and the gods in cos-
mology, 414, 416; Anshar and
Kishar in the creation epic and
INDEX.
741
their meaning, 418; conquers
Tiamat (one version), 422.
Anshar-gal, cosmological deity, 417.
Antar, Arabian romance of A., 494.
.4ti fares, observations of, 372.
Aiitioch, gnostic center, 699.
Antiochits Soter, cult of Marduk and
Nabu, 650.
Anu, god, 51 ; relationship to Ish-
tar, 84-5; Der, city of Anu, 88,
155, 162; god of heavenly ex-
panse, 89, 147, 207, 432; abstract
conception, 89; priest of Anu, 90;
Anu as term for ' lofty,' 90 ; mem-
ber of the great triad, 107, 152,
r55> 2°7> 677; in Lugalzaggisi's
pantheon, no; artificial char-
acter in Hammurabi's pantheon,
1 52 ; position in Agum's pan-
theon, 152; dwells in Uruk, 53;
Anatum, his consort, 153; in Ass.
pantheon, 153-5, 201, 207; asso-
ciated with Ramman, 154, 207,
212 ; associated with Dagan, 154,
209 ; disappears after Sargon,
155; in religious texts, 156; in
Nebuchadnezzar's I. pantheon,
162; father of Anunnaki and
Igigi,- 186, 207, 593; fighting Tia-
mat, 197 ; temple in Lagash, 53,
640 ; temple at Ashur, 207 ; suc-
ceeded by Ashur, 207; associated
with Ishtar, 207 ; blesses handi-
work, 208, 237; associated with
Bel and Belit, 226-7; Anu and
Ishtar, names of the west gates of
Sargon's IT. palace, 237 ; associated
with Nusku, 277, 286; made god
of heavenly expanse, 432 ; " Way
of Anu " = ecliptic of sun, 457;
pole star of the ecliptic, 460;
Nisan, sacred to A. and Bel, 462,
677 ; Tebet, sacred to A., Papsu-
kal, and Ishtar, 463 ; 2d Ululu,
sacred to Anu and Bel, 463; in
the Adapa myth, 546 ff.
Anunit, goddess, 51 ; a variant of
Ishtar, 82, 85, 242 ; in proper
names of 2d Bab. period, 169;
worshipped at Agade, 117, 242;
shrine in E-babbara at Sippar,
646.
Anunnaki, explanation of name,
184; number of, and its explana-
tion, 185; spirits of earth, 185,
593; gods in whose service the
A. are, 186; their character, 186;
associated with Igigi, 186, 593;
altar of A. and Igigi, 186; shining
chiefs of Eridu, 186; ruled by
Ishtar, 204 (cf. 502); Anu, their
chief, 186, 207, 593; Bel, king of
all the A., 222; associated with
the great triad, 236 ; created by
Marduk, 447; offspring of Anu,
593; A. and Mammitum deter-
mine death and life, 493; in the
deluge story, 500, 502 (cf. 204) ;
in Allatu's court, 593.
Apollodorus, source for B.-A. reli-
gion, i, 5.
Apotheosis, see Deification.
Apsu, the deep, personified ocean,
411, 443, 489, 580; synonymous
with Tiamat, 41 1 ; male principle,
411; dominion of A. and Tiamat
precedes that of the gods, 412;
gods, product of the union of A.
and Tiamat, 413; mythical mon-
sters, product of the union of A.
and Tiamat, 414; basin, a sacred
object and symbol, 653 ; compari-
742
INDEX.
son with the " sea " in Solomon's
temple, 653.
Arabia, metals and stone exported,
627.
Arabians invade Mesopotamia, 34,
39-
Arakh-shamnu, 8th month, sacred
to Marduk, 463, 678, 686; i5th
day, sacred to Shamash, Malkatu,
and Bunene, 685.
Aralu, the nether-world, 489, 557;
called E-kur or mountain house,
558; distinction betw. Aralu, the
mountain (= earth), and Aralu,
the district of the dead proper,
558 ; names and epithets of A.,
563, 592 ; pictorial representation
of, 579 ff.; pantheon of, 582 ff.
Arbela, temple of Ishtar, 202-3, 205,
651 ; meaning of name, 203; theo-
logical center, 342, 651.
Archaeological religious monuments,
14.
Architecture, reed and clay materials
for building, 495-6 ; see Temple.
Ardi-Ea, ferryman of Parnapishtim,
491; takes Gilgamesh to the
fountain of life, 509.
Ark, see Ship.
Ark of the covenant compared with
the Babylonian ship for the gods,
655-
Armenia, legend of Rustem parallel
to Etana legend, 520 ff.; exports
precious stones, 627.
Arts, patron gods, 177-8.
Aruru, goddess, creates mankind,
together with Marduk, 448, 474;
creates Eabani, 448, 474; = Ish-
tar, 448-9 ; creates Gilgamesh,
473-4-
Ashera compared with tree worship
in Babylonia, 689.
Ashur, capital of Assyria, 42, 193,
651; modern name Kalah-Sher-
gat, 198; temple to Ashur, 198,
651; temple to Ishtar, 205;
temple to Anu, 207; temple to
Shamash, 209; temple to Bel,
225; temple to Ea, 230; intellec-
tual center, 651.
Ashur, god, consort of Belit, 150,
,226, 668; rivaled by Ramman,
161; in Ass. pantheon, 189; head
of Ass. pantheon. 191, 200; his
unique position, 191-2, 215; local
deity, 193; symbol, 194, 632; in-
terpretation of symbol, 195-6,
685 ; general character of Ashur,
195; etymology of name, 196;
Anshar another form of A., 197,
414; god of battle, 195, 199, 201;
chief of pantheon and epithets,
200-2 ; king of the Igigi, 200 ;
associated with Ninib, 214; his
temples few, 215; associated with
Ninib and Nergal, 216, 218;
associated with Marduk, 224 ;
associated with the great triad,
236; name of inner wall of Sar-
gon's II. palace, 237; permits the
king to grow old and protects the
troop, 237; superiority to Mar-
duk, 239; god of oracles, 344;
Bel Tarbasi or lord of the court,
345; 2d Adar, sacred to A., 463;
Ululu, sacred to A., 463, 685.
A shurbanabal, library, 13; patron of
science and art, 43, 229; rule, 44;
recaptures Nana's statue, 85, 206;
gives prominence to Nabu cult,
129; celebrates festival in honor
INDEX.
743
of Gula, 218, 683; embellishes
temple of Nergal at Tarbisu, 219;
his pantheon, 238; sacrifices in
Babylonia, 664 ; restores temple
E-kur at Nippur, 645 ; Shamash
cult in Sippar, 646; Ishtar cult in
Uruk, 648.
Ashuretililani, king of Assyria, im-
proves Nabu's temple at Calah, 2 29.
Ashurnasirbal, king of Assyria, 205;
gives prominence to Ninib cult,
214; Calah, his capital, 215;
builds sanctuaries to Ishtar, Sin,
Gula, Ea, Ramman, 215; as a
hunter, 216; builds sanctuary to
Gula, 218 ; builds sanctuary to Sin
at Calah, 219; his pantheon, 237;
gives prominence to Ishtar cult,
325-
Ashur-rish-ishi, king of Assyria, 149,
204, 213.
Assyria, military superiority, 2 ;
history by Herodotus, 3 ; art and
antiquities, 7 ; character of coun-
try and culture, 30-1 ; character
of people, 31; comparison with
Babylonia, 31; architecture, 42;
history, 41-4; conquest of, 44;
sun worship, 78; Assyrian Ishtar
cult as distinguished from Bab.,
83, 85 ; Ass. Nabu cult as against
Bab. Marduk cult, 128; religious
beliefs more popular than Bab.,
153; influence upon Bab. culture
and religion, 179; pantheon, 188;
divisions of Ass. pantheon, 188-9 »
comparison of Ass. and Bab.
pantheons, 189, 201; attacked by
Cassites, 199; A. god of oracles,
344 ; continuity of Ass. and Bab.
' religion owing to Ass. worship of
Bab. deities, 642 ; Airu, sacred
month in Ass., 684.
Assyrians, see Assyria.
Astrology, lunar worship influenced
by A., 219-20; bar to monotheistic
development, 319; observation of
the planets, 370 ; questions put
to the astrologer, 369.
Astronomy, factor in spreading
lunar worship, 220, 245 ; mixture
of astronomy and astrology in the
observation of eclipses, 357 ; in
the observation of the planets,
370 ; forms part of cosmology,
454; the determination of the
laws under which the stars stood,
457 ; composite character of A.
science, 460 ; divisions of, 460-1 ;
moon and sun in, 461.
Azag-sir, minor deity in Ass. pan-
theon, 234.
Babbar, surname of Shamash, 72;
etymology, 72.
Babylon, founded, 2; supremacy, 2;
capture of, 4, 45 ; ancient center,
35; capital of Babylonia, 39, 116;
Marduk, deity of, 54, 117-8,531;
E-sagila, temple of Marduk, 121,
241, 639; temple of Shamash, 242,
640; temple of Sin, 242; temple
of Nin-makh, 242, 640 ; temple of
Nin-khar-sag, 242; temple of Gula,
242, 638; attacked by Dibbarra,
531; zikkurat at Bab., 619, 639;
temple to Nin-lil-anna (242), 640;
religious center of the country,
649-50.
Babylonia, conceptions of nether-
world, 2; notices in rabbinical
literature, 3 ; extent, 26 ; charac-
744
INDEX.
ter of country, 30; character of
people, 31 ; character of culture,
34; Babylonian states and their
history, 35 ff.; dynasties of, 39-
41, 44-5, 489; united under
Hammurabi, 116; Bab. and Ass.
Ishtar cult, 83, 85; Bab. and Ass.
Marduk cult, 128; Bab. beliefs
less popular than Ass., 153;
periods of Bab. religion, 162;
gods common to all three periods
of Bab. religion, 163; Bab. culture
and beliefs influenced by Assyria,
179; comparison of Bab. and Ass.
pantheons, 189, 201; country of
Bel, 222; under Ass. rule, 223;
source of Ass. culture, 222 ; inde-
pendent of Assyria, 239; politi-
cal-and religious centers, 245; re-
places Nippur, 542; sanctuary of
Nabu, 640 ; sacrificial acts in
Bab. and their meaning, 664 ;
Nisan, the sacred month in Bab.,
684 ; continuity of Bab. and Ass.
belief owing to Ass. worship of
Bab. gods, 642.
Babylonians, see also Babylonia ;
subjects of Bel, 222 ; humanity of
Bel, 222.
Babylonian-Assyrian religion, I ;
phases of, 46-7 ; age of essen-
tials of religion, 114; gods of the
B.-A. pantheon, 189; continuity of
B.-A. religion, 642 \\ see Assyria
. and Babylonia.
Bahrein, exports wood, 627.
Ba-kad, in the Cassite pantheon, 162,
172.
Balasi, astrologer, 340.
Balawat, explorations, 9 ; portals of
palace at B., 627.
Bar, offspring of Ishtar declines to
fight Zu, 541.
Bashtum, goddess in proper names
of the 2d Bab. period, 169.
Battles of Yahwe, recalls Dibbarra
epic, 534.
Bau, goddess, 51 ; her attributes,
59-60, 90, 678 ; temple in Uru-
azagga, 59, 103 ; Zag-muk, her
festival, 59, 677 ; consort of Nin-
girsu, 59, 677; identification with
Gula, 60; her sphere, 60 ; daughter
of Anu, 59-60; mother of Ea
and water-deity, 61 ; common
features with Ga-sig (?) -dug, 61 ;
Bau not Hebr. bohu, 60 ; her sons
(Amiaud), 103; in Gudea's pan-
theon, 106; in incantations, 273;
Bau's ship, 655.
Ba'u-ukin = Dungi (Winckler),
6S.
Baz, city in Babylonia, temple of Bel-
sarbi, 242, 639.
Bel, see also Marduk and Bel-Mar-
diik ; god, temple of, 4; temple
at Nippur, u, 37, 69, 51, 54, 151,
642, 644 ; position in the Babylo-
nian theology, 52 ; oldest spelling
and meaning of name, 52 ; temple
in Lagash, 53 ; growth of his cult,
53 ; blending with Marduk, 54,
145, 146,' 148, 222 ; phases of cult,
55; associations and relations with
Ea, 62 ; associated with Allat, 104 ;
in Lugalzaggisi's and Gudea's
pantheon, no; subordination to
Marduk, 1 18 ; transfers his name
to Marduk, 140, 222, 439, 635 ; god
of earth par excellence, 140, 147,
432, 440, 497 ; creator of mankind,
141, 441 ; in the deluge story,
INDEX.
745
142, 497, 502, 504 ; Bel and the
triad, 107, 145-9, 207, 677 ; Bel
in Hammurabi's pantheon, 145-
6, 162 ; in Cassite period, 146 ;
temple at Bur-Kurigalzu, 146;
in the Assyrian pantheon, 146-
7, 225-6; in the neo-Bab. pan-
theon, 147; epithets, 146, 222, 225,
227, 274 ; relationship to the other
members of the triad, 147, 226;
Bel (and Belit) decree fates,
*S0> Z53> 538 ; Dagan = Bel, 151,
154, 209, 225; relationship to
Zakar, 172 ; lord of Annunaki and
Igigi, 1 86 ; husband of Ishtar,
205; confused with Dagan, 151,
154, 209; Ninib, first-born of Bel,
217; Sin, first-born of Bel, 219,
462; Nusku, messenger of, 221;
temple at Ashur, 225; dwells in
E-khar-sag-kurkura, 225; asso-
ciated with Anu and Belit, 226-
8 ; consort of Ishtar, 205 ; of
Belit, 226 ; B. and Belit, names
of the northern gates of Sargon's
II. palace, 237; lays foundations,
237 (cf. Ninib}\ associated with
fire-god, 279, 286; Bel made lord
of the earth by Marduk, 432 ; in the
zodiacal system in conjunction
with Nibir and Ea marks the
three divisions of the year, 434-5 ;
identified with north polar-star,
435, 460 ; Nisan, sacred to Anu
and B., 462, 677 ; 2d Elul, sacred
to Anu and B., 463 ; Bel in nth
tablet of Gilgamesh epic, 496 ;
rivalry with Ea, 497, 507 ff.; god
of Dur-an-ki, 539 ; on seal cylin-
ders, 540 ; robbed of tablets of
fate by Zu, 540 ; temple E-U-gal,
640 ; figurines of Bel, 674 ; Zag-
muk, festival of, 678.
Bel-epush, Babylonian prince, votive
object, 671.
Bel-Afarduk, see Bel and Marduk.
Belili, deity, 417; in incantations,
417 ; sister of Tammuz, 575, 588 ;
in Allatu's court, 588, 593 ; con-
sort of Alallu, 589.
Belit, goddess, 51 ; place of cult, 55,
635 ; titles and their meanings,
55-6, 227 ; sanctuaries, 56 ; in
Lugalzaggisi's pantheon, no; con-
sort of En-lil, in, 150, 151 ; con-
sort of Ashur, 150, 226, 668; uses
of "Belit," 151; Bel and Belit
decree the fate, 150, 153; relation-
ship to Zakar, 172 ; associated
with Anu and Bel, 226-8 ;
confusion in Ass. pantheon,
226-7; consort of Bel, 226; con-
sort of Ea, 226-7, 23!» 237; =
Ishtar, 226-7 > = Sarpanitum, wife
of Bel-Marduk, 226, 684 ; Emash-
mash, her temple at Nineveh,
227 ; B. and Bel, names of the
northern gates of Sargon's II. pal-
ace, 237; brings fertility, 237;
temple at Babylon (see Nin-khar-
sag), 242 ; = Nin-lil, 635 ; figu-
rines of, 674.
Belit of Akkad= Belit, 162, 176.
Belit-ekalli, in the Cassite pan-
theon, 162 ; consort of Ninib,
J73 5 =Gula, 173, 176; meaning,
T73-
Belit-il&ni, consort of Ea, 226, 231,
237; B. and Ea, names of south-
ern gates of Sargon's II. palace,
237 ; increases offspring, 237.
Belit mati= Belit of the land =
746
INDEX.
Ishtar, 151, 206, 215; perhaps =
Belit, 227.
B$lit-seri, scribe of Allatu, 587.
Bel-sarbi, god, his temple at Baz,
242, 639 ; perhaps = Nergal, 242.
Bel-zir, a layman, offers a votive
object, 671.
Berosus, source B.-A. religion, i, 4,
412.
Birs Nimrud, explored, 9.
Bit-Khabban, town in Babylonia ;
its patron-gods, 176.
Bit-Khabban, district of Babylonia,
sacred to Sin, 163.
Blood, sanctity of, 661.
Boaz, name of column in Solomon's
temple, 624.
Borsippa, explorations, 9 ; temple
of Nabu, 121, 229, 241, 639; its
situation, 124, 125; beloved city
of Marduk, 126; temple of Ram-
man, 242 ; 3 sanctuaries of Gula,
242, 636 (E-ul-la), 641 ; zikkurat
at B., 617, 619, 639; E-makhtila
shrine in E-zida to Nabu at
Borsippa, 307, 606, 636.
Botta, P. E., excavations, 6.
Buddhism, doctrine of annihilation,
Bulala, a foreign god, 644.
Bunene, in Nabubaliddin's pantheon,
162; in proper names of the 2d
Bab. period, 169, 176; associated
with Shamash and Malik, 176.
Bunene and Malik, attendants of
Shamash, 177 ; consort of Malik,
177 ; associated with Shamash
and Malkatu, 685.
Bttrial, see Dead.
Bur-Sin, repairs zikkurat and builds
shrine in Nippur, 645.
Calah, capital of Assyria, 42, 193,
651 ; temple of Nabu, 128, 228;
temple of Belit mati, 151 ; temple
of Ninib, 214 ; capital of A'shur-
nasirbal, 215; sanctuary of Sin,
219 ; intellectual center, 651 ;
worship of Ninib, 215, 684; pal-
ace of Sargon II., 687.
Calendar, fixed by Marduk, 434 ; im-
portance of moon for c., 436, 461 ;
agriculture and c., 462 ; growth
and character, 465; adopted by
Hebrews, 464, 68 1.
Cappadocian wedge writings, 20.
Cassites, dynasty, 40-1, 480 ; cult
of Bel of Nippur, 146, 645 ; cult
of Shamash, 144, 646; cult of
Ramman, 158; cult of Shukamuna,
152, 162; cult of Nin-dim-su, Ba-
kad, Pap-u, Belit-ekalli, Shuma-
lia, 162, 172 ; attack upon Assyria,
199.
Chaldaean Wisdom, 362, 384, 403.
Chaos, attempts at picturing c., 411,
419 ; gods contemporaneous with
the primeval c., 413.
Christianity, influenced by Ass.-Bab.
religion, 698.
Claudius Ptolemaetis"1 astronomy, 5.
Commercial literature in syllabaries,
J35-
Cosmology, 247, 407 ff. ; the Tiamat
episode, 140; two or more ver-
sions of creation, 141—2, 407—8;
literary-religious character of, 247 ;
rise and development of cosmo-
logical speculations, 249; distinc-
tion between popular and scholas-
tic c., 249-50, 442-3 ; distinction
as to contents and form, 250 ;
historical kernel, 250 ; c. deities
INDEX.
747
antecedent to the known gods of
the B.-A. pantheon, 417; not
creatio ex nihilo, but evolution of
chaos to order, the keynote of c.,
418, 442 ; similarities with Biblical
account, 409, 433, 435, 451 ; crea-
tion of heaven, 435, 443; of sun,
435; of moon, 436; of earth, 443;
of mankind, 443 ; second version,
its similarities with and dissimilari-
ties from the first version, 444 ff.;
the gods of Nippur, Erech, Eridu,
the original creators of the uni-
verse, Marduk a later introduction,
449—50 ; the mountain Mashu and
the cosmological conceptions, 489 ;
see Creation epic.
Court of the World, name of temple,
641.
Creation epic, purpose of, 409 ; simi-
larity with the Biblical account,
409, 433 ; literary form, 409 ff. ;
a nature myth, 432-3 ; represen-
tation of sun, 461 ; see Cosmol-
ogy.
Ctesias, source for B.-A. religion, i,
4-
Cult and worship, cf. Festivals and
Rituals; organization, 115, 133,
234 ; gods in cult and in invoca-
tions, 238 ; revival of old c. in
Neo-Bab. period, 242-3 ; tree-wor-
ship, 688-9; compounded of
popular belief and theology, 689.
Cuneiform, see Wedge writing.
Cuthah, ancient center, 35 ;==Tell-
Ibrahim, 65 ; cult and temple
Nergal (see Laz), 65, 164, 218,
563, 583, 648, 667 ; a designation
for the nether-world, 563, 570; syn-
onymous with nether-world, 583.
Cuthaeans, 532.
Cyrus, captures Babylon, 4, 45 ;
adopts Babylonian religion, 45,
650.
Dagan, god, 51 ; confusion with Bel,
151, 154, 209, 225; associated with
Anu, 1 54, 209 ; chiefly in Assyria,
208 ; comparison with Dagon,
208 ; probably Aramaic origin,
208 ; god of earth, 209.
Damascins (or Damascenus), see
Nicolas of Damascus.
Damascus, in Syria, cult of Ram-
man, 159.
Damkina, consort of Ea, 64, 143,
231 ; meaning of name, 143;
relationship to Ea and Marduk,
143; in magical texts, 143; Ea
and Damkina grant long life, 1 53 ;
title Belit-ilani, 231 ; occasion-
ally invoked in incantations, 276.
Damku, god, associated with Sharru-
ilu and Sha-nit(?)-ka, 232 ; mean-
ing of name, 232 ; evidently a
title, 232 ; perhaps foreign deity,
232 ; worshipped at Magganubba,
232.
Damu and Damu-gal, epithets of
Gula, 1 66, 175.
Daniel, book^ of ; bearing upon B.-
A. religion, 2, 3 ; Daniel and Bab.
religion, 3 (cf. 668) ; illustrative of
Babylonian dream lore, 403 ; au-
thentic description of dedication
of statue, 669.
Dead, universal, 556 ; location and
names of the gathering place of
the dead, 557 ff. (cf. Aret/ier-world) ;
All-Souls' Day, 599, 605, 682 ;
under the special protection of
748
INDEX.
the gods, 183, 558, 582, 592 ; fur-
nish oracles to the living, 559, 560,
582, 657 ; deification of dead, 561,
582 ; condition of dead, 563 ff. ;
purified, 578, 602 ; can hear lam-
entations, 575, 577 ; cannot be
brought back from Aralu, 576,
582 ; suffer hunger, 598—9; tombs
and burial, 595 ff.
Death and burial, life after death,
512, 514, 556 ff . ; cave burial,
557 ; pyramid burial, 557.
Deborah, song of, among the "Bat-
tles of Yah we," 534.
Deification (Parnapishtim and Eta-
na), 470, 527 ; of dead, '56 1,58 2 ; of
Gudea and Dungi, 167, 470, 561 ;
of Gimil-Sin, 561 ; of Gilgamesh,
282, 284, 470, 561.
Delila, parallelism with Ishtar, 516.
Delitzsch, Friedrich, Sumerian ques-
tion, 22 ; see Preface.
delta Valle, Pietro, traveler, 15.
Deluge, in Gilgamesh epic and O.
T., 495 '•> place °f origin of deluge,
498 ; embodying two distinct tra-
ditions, 502, 506; points of con-
tact with Biblical narrative, 506 ff.;
antiquity of the tradition, 508.
Demons, see also Animism and
Spirits ; chief demon, 57, 497 ; in
incantations, 287 ; how exorcised,
330; when not to be exorcised,
378 ; messenger of god, 378 ; Tar-
gul-le, in the deluge story let loose
by Dibbarra, 500; the Utukku,
260 (cf. 511); the Ekimmu, 260
(cf. 512); authors of evil and
disease, 183, 593, 306, 692.
D$r, center of worship of Nina, 88;
city of Anu, 88, 155.
de Sacy, Silvestre, decipherment of
wedge writing, 15.
de Sarzec, Ernest, explorer, 1 1 .
Dibbarra, in Ass. pantheon, 189;
plague-god, 232, 505, 528 ; a spirit,
232 ; identified with Nergal, 232,
528-9, 594; minor god, 234 ; in the
deluge story, 500 (cf. 505) ; solar
deity, 528 ; god of war, " the war-
rior," 528-9 ; attendant of Ner-
gal, 529, 588 ; attended by Ishum,
529 ; D.'s attack upon Babylon,
530-1 ; D.'s attack upon Uruk,
531 ; general war among man-
kind, 531 ff. ; Dibbarra enraged
and appeased, 535 ; identified with
Girra, 588.
Dibbarra epic, see Dibbarra, 232,
528 ff.; recalls the "Battles of
Yahwe," 534.
Dilbat, city in Babylonia ; temple of
Ninib, 242; zikkurat E-gubba-an-
ki, 639.
Dilmnn, island, 125.
Diodorus, source for B.-A. religion,
i» 4» 399* 435-
Dirges, sung by priests and priest-
esses, 604, 658 ; by priestesses, 660.
Divine names, variety of names of
individual divinities and local uses
thereof, 73 ; transference of name
and its meaning, 118, 140-1 ; in
proper names, 165-6, 169; obscur-
ity of, 233.
Djumdjuma, 10.
Dogma, establishment of, 115, 133,
247, 690 ff.
Dreams, importance of, 322-3; on
par with oracles, 350, 479 ; treated
as omens, 350, 403 ff. ; in the Gil-
gamesh epic, 481, 486, 497.
INDEX.
749
Du'ar, Da'ur, cosmological deity,
417.
Du-azagga, council chamber of the
gods, 629 ; = Apsu, 630 ; place
where the sun rises, 630.
J)nmit-zi, god; his double aspect,
96-7; worship at Lagash, 635.
Ditmnzi-zn-aba, god, 51 ; interpre-
tation of name, 96 ; functions and
character, 96 ; places of worship,
96 ; in Gudea's pantheon, 106.
Dungi, of Ur, builds temple of Ner-
gal at Cuthah, 65 ; builds temple
of Nana in Uruk, 81 ; builds tem-
ple to Nin-Mar, 100 ; deified, 167,
470, 561.
Dun-shagga> 5 1 ; son of Nin-girsu,
91 ; meaning of name, 94 ; in
Gudea's pantheon, 106.
Dur-an-ki, name of a temple tower
in Nippur, 539.
Djir-ilu, Ass. city near Elamitic
frontier; cult of Kadi, 232.
Dur-Kurigalzu, temple of Bel, 146.
Dnr-padda, a fort sacred to Ram-
man, 158.
Dur-zakar, sanctuary of Belit, 56.
DiSztc, see Tatnnntz.
J: dwelling in E-Zida,
123; consort of Nabu, 123; pos-
sibly identical with Eria, 122;
water deity, 123; cult suppressed
by Hammurabi, 130; place of
worship, 130.
E-Sagila, temple of Marduk in
Babylon, 121, 636 ; with a shrine of
Sarpanitum, 121, 241, 636, 641 ;
with shrine of Nusku, 220, 241 ;
with shrine of Nabu, 127, 220,
636; with shrine of Ea, 220, 241 ;
with shrine of Tashmitum, 220,
241 ; with shrine of Nin-kharsag,
639 ; sanctuary E-karzaginna of
Ea, 636 ; meaning of name, 639 ;
with papakhu of Marduk, 640 ;
takes the place of E-kur, 645 ;
history of E-Sagila, 648 ff.; place
of installation of rulers, 649.
influence of E-Sagila and E-Zida,
649.
E-Sagila, temple of Ea, 446.
E-salgisa, temple in Girsu, 641;
meaning of name, 641.
Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, 200;
restores temple of Nana-Ishtar
at Erech, 85, 206; his pantheon,
238 ; restores Ekur, 645 ; Shamash
cult in Sippar, 646.
Eschatological literature, gods and
demons in e., 183.
E-shara, meaning, 173, 175, 198;
offsprings of, 174; bride of E.,
T73» 175; built by Anshar, 198;
built by Marduk, 198, 431 ; =
Ekur, 217 ; placed by Marduk
under control of Bel, 432.
E-shid-lam, temple of Nergal and
Laz at Cuthah, 65, 648, 667.
Etana, legendary personage, 468,
505, 519 ff.; dwells in the nether-
world, 511, 520, 523, 527, 590;
E.'s patron, Shamash, 520 ; name
occurs in O. T., 519; traditions
among other nations, 519-21;
E. and Ganymede, 523; deified,
527, 590 ; god of vegetation, 590.
E-temen-an-ki, zikkurat to Marduk
at Babylon, 619, 639; meaning of
name, 639.
Ethics, B.-A. religion, 291, 312, 692 ;
belong to advanced period, 292,
304-5; in prayers, 298-9; gods
whose nature create e. notions,
306, 692; in penitential psalms,
312 ff.; private morality, 694 ff.
E-tila, name of a temple, and mean-
ing of name, 641.
E-tur-kalama, temple of Ishtar,
311-
E-U-gal, temple to En-lil, 640;
meaning of name, 640.
E-ulla, temple to Gula in Sippar,
641 ; meaning of name, 641.
E-ttl-mash, temple of Nana in
Agade, 82.
Euphrates, stream of Garden of
Eden, 2 (cf. 506) ; E. valley, cen-
tral habitation of mankind, 2 ;
old settlements of Hebrews, 2 ;
course of, 27 ; comparison with
Tigris, 30 ; one of the four streams
forming the confluence of streams,
506 (cf. 2).
INDEX.
753
E-ur-imin-an-ki, zikkurat at Baby-
lon, 619.
Eusebius, source for B.-A. religion, r,
4, 5-
Eve, parallelism with Ukhat, 511.
Excavations, 6-15.
Exorcism, see Incantations.
E-Zida, temple of Nabu at Borsippa,
121, 229, 241, 639; with shrine
of Erua, 123; with shrine of
Sarpanitum, 241 ; with shrine of
Tashmitum, 241 ; with shrine of
Nusku, 241 ; with shrine of Ea,
241; with shrine of Sin, 639;
history of E-Zida, 648 ff.; influ-
ence of E-Zida and E-Sagila, 649.
E-Zida, shrine of Nabu in E-Sagila,
127, 220, 229, 636.
Family, systematization of O. B.
pantheon according to Davis, 109.
Fast days, special occasions, 688.
Fate tablets, tablets of fate in the
hands of Bel, 538 (cf. 1 50, 1 53) ;
in the Tiamat story, 420, 428,
538 ; robbed by Zu, 540 ; com-
pared with the tablets of wisdom,
585.
Festivals, zag-muk, 59, 127, 631,
677, 678 ; significance of every
day, 675 ; special significance of
special days, 675, 677, 680- 1,
683-5 '•> words for f. in Assyrian,
676, 687 ; each month sacred to a
deity, 462-3, 676, 683-4; fes-
tivals and months sacred to
divinities not always correspond-
ing, 687 ; special festivals, 687-8 ;
the puru ceremony, 688 ; fast days
and rites, 688.
Fire, see Water (cf. Gibil-Nusku in
incantations, 277) ; means of puri-
fication, 276, 279 ; belongs to all
three divisions of the universe,
286.
Foreign gods in B.-A. religion (see
also Cassites), 142, 644 ; Adad
= Ramman, 156 ; Kadi, 188, 232,
234; Damku, 232; Eria, 122,
162 (Elamitic).
Fresnel, Fulgence, expedition, 8.
Gaga, Assyrian pantheon, 188 ;
minor god, 234 ; Anshar's mes-
senger to Tiamat, 423; a foreign
deity, 238, 644.
Gal-alim, 51 ; center of worship, 91 ;
son of Nin-girsu, 91 ; in Gudea's
pantheon, 106.
Gamlat, in Ass. pantheon, 188.
Ganymede and Etana, 523.
Ga-sig{?)-dug, goddess, 51 ; similar to
Bau, 61 ; worship at Lagash, 61,
635; in Gudea's pantheon, 106, 635.
Gate of Widespread Splendor, seat
of Sarpanitum in E-Sagila, 121,
241, 636, 641.
Gegunu, epithet of Aralu, 563.
Genealogical systematization of Old
Bab. pantheon according to Ami-
aud, 109.
Genesis, see Cosmology.
Gibil, fire-god, E-la-li, perhaps an
epithet, 170 ; in Ass. pantheon,
189; amalgamated with Nusku,
220, 227 ; in incantations, 273,
277 ; Bolder than Nusku, 277 ;
epithets, 277, 280 ; a mythological
conception, 277, 279; G.-Nusku,
god of civilization, 278; medium
betw. worshipper and deity, 279;
associated with Anu, 277 ; asso-
754
INDEX.
ciated with Bel and Ea, 279;
associated with Nin-gish-zida,
463 ; identified with Nergal, 594.
Gil, attendant of Nergal and Allatu,
588 ; god of foliage, 588.
Gilgamesh, hero of the Bab. epic, 83,
468 ff.; in incantations, 282, 284,
470 ; mythological explanation of,
282, 486-7 ; with omens, 387 ; solar
deity, 470-1, 51 5 ; king of the earth,
471 ; born in Marada, 473; con-
quers Uruk, 473, 513; created by
Aruru, 473-4 ; Shamash (see Lu-
gal-Marada), his patron, 471, 479;
love affair with Ishtar, 481 ff.;
Lugal-Marada, his patron (see
Shamash'], 486 ; conquers Khum-
baba, 480, 514; G.'s contest with
the bull, 486, 514, 537 ; contest
with lion, 488, 514; Gilgamesh
half divine, half human, 490, 514 ;
G. and Sabitum, 490-1 ; G. and
Parnapishtim, 492 ff. ; points of
contact with O. T., 495, 515-6;
G. and Eabani, 510, 565 ; seeking
immortality and the secret of life
after death, 513 ; parallelism with
Samson, 516; parallelism with Her-
cules, 516; Gilgamesh and Alex-
ander the Great, 469, 516; G. in
Aelian, 469, 524; G.'s grandfather
Sokkaros, 524.
Gimil-Sin, deified, 561 ; temple at
Lagash, 561.
Gim-nun-ta-ud-du-a, son of Bau,
103; explanation of name, 103;
probable functions, 103.
Gin-shul-pa-uddu, wife of Gudea,
99-
Girra, attendant of Nergal and
Allatu, 588; identified with Dib-
barra, 588 ; a form of Nergal in-
later texts, 589.
Girsu, see Lagash.
Gish-galla (?), quarter of Lagash, 57 ;
temple of Ninni, 80.
Gish-zida, identical with solar deity
Nin-gish-zida, 547 ; G. and Tam-
muz, doorkeepers of heaven, 546 ;
5th month sacred to G., 547 ; in-
tercedes for Adapa with Anu,
548-9-
Gnosticism, influenced by B.-A.
religion, 698.
Great Place, name of temple, 641.
Grotefend, Georg Friedrich, decipher-
ment of wedge writing, 16.
Gudea, statues, 57, 652 ; his pan-
theon, 106 ff., 635; number of
deities indicative of the extent of
his sovereignty, 106 ; principle of
order, 107 ; gods common to
Gudea's and Lugalzaggisi's pan-
theon, 1 10 ; deified, 167, 470, 561 ;
his zikkurat, 615, 619; builder of
temples, 642 ; imports diorite from
Sinai peninsula, 627, 651 ; Gudea's
apsu, 653 ; Gudea's ship for Nin-
girsu, 654 ; G.'s votive objects and
inscription, 57, 668-9, 672.
Gitla, identified with Bau, 60 ; asso-
ciated with Ninib, 105 (cf. 576) ;
goddess of healing, 105, 166, 175,
282 (cf. 576, 683) ; in Nebuchad-
nezzar's I. pantheon, 162, 175 ; epi-
thets, 1 66, 173, 175, 576 ; goddess
of nether-world, 174-5 '•> position
intermediate betw. gods of the
living and gods of the dead,
I7$(cf- 576) > creator of mankind,
175 ; her sanctuary erected by
Ashurnasirbal, 218; her festival
INDEX.
755
celebrated by Ashurbanabal, 218,
683 ; = Nin-Karrak, 242 ; temple
at Babylon (see Nin-l\arrak}, 242,
638 ; three sanctuaries at Borsip-
pa, 242, 636 (K-ulla), 641 ; in in-
cantations, 273, 282 ; 1 2th day of
lyar sacred to G., 683.
Gungunu, of Ur, erects two temples
to Shamash in Ur, 70.
Gurmu, son of Bau, 103.
Gushgin-banda, 171;" brilliant chief,"
patron of metal-workers, 178.
Halcvy,J., Sumerian question, 22-4.
Hallabi, city near Sippar, temple of
Ninni, 117, 144.
Ilainath, city in N. Syria, 578.
Hammurabi^ king of Babylon, se-
cures the hegemony in Babylonia,
1 1 6, 532; Marduk, the chief of
his pantheon, 117; builds tem-
ples, 642 ; builds temple to Ninni
at Hallabi, 117; builds E-Zida,
121 ; ignores cult of Nabu, 128 ;
suppresses cult of Erua, 130 ; care
of temple of Shamash at Larsa,
143-4 ; Shamash cult, 117, 143-4;
at Sippar, 117, 143; at Larsa,
143; Ninni cult at Hallabi, 144-
5 ; " proclaimer of Anu and Bel,"
146-7 ; beloved shepherd of Belit,
1 50 ; list of names of gods
in H.'s pantheon, 161-2; "The
Akkadian," 532 ; H.'s character as
a Messiah, 533 ; = Amraphel, 534.
Harrau, city in Mesopotamia, sacred
to Sin, 76, 241, 641, 647 ; its im-
portance and political decline, 77 ;
meaning of its name, 78 ; associa-
tions with Ur, 77 ; enjoys the
patronage of Sargon II., 77 ; tem-
ple of Sin, 76, 241, 641 ; patron-
ized by Nabonnedos, 77, 242.
Haynes,John //., excavations, n.
Heart of Shamash, name of a tem-
ple, 641.
Hebrews, see Old Testament.
Hercules, parallelism with Gilga-
mesh, 516.
Herodotus, source for B.-A. religion,
i ; history of Assyria, 3 ; history
of Persia, 4 ; notices on B.-A. re-
ligion, 4 ; notices on Ishtar cult
in Erech, 485.
Hillah, village, site of, 8.
Historical texts, value as source for
religion, 51, 166, 246, 66 1 ; pan-
theon in h. t. compared -with that
in incantation texts, 297 ; source
for knowledge of sacrifices, 66 1.
Hittites, eagle standard among the
H., 527 ; influence on Assyrian
architecture, 627.
Homtnel, Fritz, Sumerian question,
21.
'Homoroka = Marduk, 5.
House Full of Joy, name of temple,
641.
House of Fifty, see E-ninnu.
House of Great Splendor, name of
temple, 641.
House of Hearkening to Prayers,
name of temple, 641.
House of Light, name of temple,
641.
House of the Brilliant Precinct,
name of temple, 641.
House of the Seven Divisions of
Heaven and Earth, name of zik-
kurat at Borsippa, 639.
Hoiise of the Seven Zones, name of
zikkurat at Uruk, 639.
756
INDEX.
House Without Rival, name of tem-
ple, 641.
Hymns and prayers, division of re-
ligious literature, 247, 293 ; where
composed, 248 ; in connection
with incantations, 293, 301 ; h. to
Shamash, 300 if. ; to Sin, 303-4 ;
dialogue style of composition
305 ; to Nebo, 306 ; no difference
in thought betw. h. and incanta-
tion, 301, 307; illustrating rela-
tionship betw. man and gods, 309 ;
deity as person of dialogue in,
310; see also Prayers.
lamblichus, source of B.-A. religion,
399-
Idiklat = Tigris, 28.
Igi-dug-ga, title of Ea, 230.
Igigi, explanation of name, 185;
number of, and explanation,
185; spirits of heaven, 185, 200;
gods in whose service the I. are,
186; their character, 186; asso-
ciated with Anunnaki, 186, 593;
altar of I. and Anunnaki, 186;
chiefs of Eridu, 186; Ashur,
king of, 200; Anu, their chief,
186, 207, 593 ; associated with the
great triad, 236.
Ilabrat, minor god, in the Adapa
legend, 546.
Illumination of Bel, name of an
omen series, 363.
Im = Ramman, 1 56.
Immeru = Ramman, 1 57.
Immortality, see Dead.
Im-pa-ud-du, son of Bau, 103; ex-
planation of name, 103 ; function,
103.
Incantations, see also Magical Texts;
in therapeutics, 246; means and
methods of, 270-3 ; gods invoked
in, 273; sacred objects invoked,
274; gods in incantations/rtr 3°7; points in common with
and differences from penitential
psalms, 31 2; the natural expression
of popular beliefs, 326; demons
exorcised by i., 330; connecting
link betw. omens and i., 352.
Inmarmaru, city in Dibbarra epic,
533-
Invocations, 165; in records of the
2d Bab. period, 167 ; combined
invocations, 235; where found,
235, 245; motive and manner of,
236 ff.; Tiglathpileserl., 236; Ram-
mannirari I., 237 ; Ashurnasirbal,
237 ; Shalmaneser II., 237 ; Sar-
gon II., 237; Sennacherib, 238;
Esarhadclon, 238 ; Ashurbanabal,
238 ; gods in invocation and in
actual worship, 238.
Irkalla, a designation of the nether-
world, 563, 566 ; name of the con-
sort of the queen of Aralu, 563,
591 ; identified with Nergal, 592.
Isaiah, prophet, 2.
Ish-gu-tnr, temple of Nin-Mar in
Mar, 100.
Ishi-milku, a foreign deity, 644.
IsJiine-Dagan, king of Assyria, evi-
dence of age of Dagan cult, 208,
INDEX.
757
hhtar, goddess Nana, 82, 85, 202,
311, 643 ; absorbs other deities, 82 ;
epithets, 83, 151-2, 204, 237 ; func-
tions in B.-A., 83, 459 ; functions in
A., 83-5; in Gilgamesh epic, 84-5,
482, 501, 563-4; zodiacal interpr.,
82-4, 310-1 ; relationship to Sin,
79,84, 163, 565, 571; relation-
ship to Anu, 84-5, 566 ; sig-
nificance of these relationships,
85; variants, 82, 85, 202, 242;
temple at Agade, 117, 242 ; temple
at Calah, 151; temple E-mash-
mash, 152, 205, 227; relationship
to Sin and Shamash, 163, 571 ;
goddessof war, 83, 164,204; during
Cassite and Nebuchadnezzar's I.
reign, 164, 645 ; variants of As-
syrian Ishtar, 202 ; mighty over
the Anunnaki, 204 ; milder nature
in religious texts, 205 ; mother of
mankind, 204-5, v- 237 > relation-
ship to her devotees, 205 ; temple
Kidmuru, 202 ; temples at Arbela,
Nineveh, and Ashur, 205; I. of
Nineveh and I. of Arbela distin-
guished, 205 ; Ab her sacred
month, 205, 462, 685; wife of Bel,
205; Belit of the land (151, 206),
215, = Belit, 226 ; temple in Uruk,
81,242,311,531,639; worship in
Uruk, 103, 242, 472, 475, 531 (see
Nana); wife of Ashur, 227 ; asso-
ciated with the great triad, 236;
Ishtar and Anu, names of west,
gates of Sargon's II. palace, 237 ;
causes the inhabitants to flourish,
237 (cf. 204) ; temple at Babylon,
242 (cf.Niiimakh}, 640; in incan-
tations, 273 ; in hymns, 310 ; tem-
ple E-tur-kalama, 311 ; in a peniten-
tial psalm, 318 ; prominence of
cult of I. under Ashurnasirbal
and before, 325, 342; in oracles
and omens, 343-4 ; = Venus as
name of planet, 370, 458-9, 571 ;
importance of Ishtar- Venus in
omen literature, 37 1-2 ; I. appears
in a dream to the king, 374 ; person-
ification of fertility, 459, 462, 482,
563, 587; causes decline, 483, 563;
loth month sacred to I., Papsukal,
and Anu, 463; the Kizreti,Ukhati,
and Kharimati of I. in Uruk, 475,
485, 660 ; relationship to Tammuz,
84, 482, 484, 547, 564, 574 ; Ish-
tar's love fatal to her lovers, 482,
516; I. and Eabani, 484, 486; in
the deluge, 501, 503-4; parallel-
ism with Delila, 516; I. in the
lower world, 564 ; the 6th month
" the mission of Ishtar," 564,
684 ; festival celebrated in Ab,
685; correlated to Allatu, 587; I.
cult under Ashurbanabal, 85, 206,
238, 648 ; cult under Nebuchad-
nezzar II., 648 ; figurines of, 674.
Ishtaritu, general designation of
Ishtar priestess, 660.
Ss/ium,god, 51; identity with Pa-sag,
101 ; in proper names of, 2d Bab.
period, 169; messenger of Nusku,
280 ; solar deity, 528 ; local deity,
528 ; attendant of Dibbarra, 529,
594 ; describes Dibbarra's deeds,
530 ff.; his wars, 533 ff.; asso-
ciated with Sibi, 533 ; " the war-
rior," 533 ; associated with Ner-
gal, 594.
fsin, ancient center, 35 ; kings, 37 ;
Isin dynasty as " builders " of tem-
ple of Nana in Ur, 81,
758
INDEX.
Iskcndcrun, bay of, 122.
lyar, see Airu.
Izdtibar=^ Gilgamesh.
Jczreel plain, cult of Ramman, 159.
Job, book of, unsatisfactory end-
ing like 1 2th tablet of Gilgamesh
epic, 513.
Josef hits, historical references to
B.-A., 5.
Judges = priests, 625, 658.
Judith, book of, bearing upon B.-A.
religion, 3.
Jupiter = Marduk, name of planet,
370, 434, 458-9, 676-7; seeAIarduk.
Kaaba, at Mecca, 624.
Kabrti, epithet for Aralu, 563.
Kadashman- Turgu, Cassite king, vo-
tive tablet, 671.
Kadi, in Ass. pantheon, 188 ; Ela-
mitic god, 232 ; worshipped in
Dur-ilu, 232 ; minor god, 234.
Kadishtu, general designation of
Ishtar priestess, 660.
Kalah-Shcrgat, excavations, 10 ; site
of city of Ashur, 198.
Kallat-Eshara, epithet of Gula, 173.
KanisJiurra, a foreign god, 644.
Kara-indash, king of Babylon, re-
stores Shamash temple at Larsa,
144.
Kar-nuna-ta-uddua, ship of Nin-
girsu, 654 ; meaning of name,
654.
Karun, one of the four streams form-
ing the confluence of streams, 506.
Katnu, a foreign god, 644.
Kercha, one of the four streams
forming the confluence of streams,
506.
Khadir = Farnapishtim, 515.
Khani, tribe hostile to Babylon, 1 52.
Khani, god, in Ass. pantheon, 188 ;
a form of Nebo, 188 ; minor god,
234 ; a foreign deity, 644.
Kharimdti, sacred harlots of Uruk,
475' 53 J> 66°-
Kharsag{-gal}-kiirknra, " the (great)
mountain of the earth," 558 ; na-
tive place of the gods, 558, 614 ;
= Ekur, 558.
Khashur, mountain destroyed by
Ishum, 533.
Khasis-Adra, see Adra-khasis, 505.
Khi-gir-win-na, son of Bau, 103.
Khi-khi, mountain attacked by
Ishum, 533.
Khiraitum, a foreign deity, 644.
Khi-shaga, a son of Bau, 103.
Khorsabad, unearthed, 6, 8 ; capital
of Assyria, 193 ; sanctuary of
Sin, 219; palace of Sargon, 225;
names of its gates and walls, 237 ;
sanctuary of Nin-Gal, 231 ; zikku-
rat at K., 617.
Khumbaba attacks Uruk, 480 ; con-
quered by Gilgamesh, 514.
KJmsha, god of the 2d Bab. period,
1 68.
Kidin-Marduk, father of Parnapish-
tim, 488, 496.
Kidmnru, temple of Ishtar in Nine-
veh, 202.
Kigalhi, a designation of the nether-
world, 562.
Kilili, a foreign deity, 644.
Kingship, differentiation of kingly
and priestly functions late, 374 ;
traces of direct relationship betw.
gods and king, 374-5.
Kingu, consort of Tiamat, 420 ;
INDEX.
759
symbol of chaos, 538 ; deprived
of the tablets of fate by Marcluk,
428.
Kiinurira, city on the Euphrates (?),
sanctuary of Dumuzi-zu-aba, 96.
A'is/t, city in Babylonia, 54; temple
of Zamama, 169; temple of .Ninni,
639-
Kishar, god, K. and Anshar created,
197, 410 ; K. and Anshar interme-
diate betw. the monsters and the
gods in creation, 414, 416-7 ; crea-
tion of theologians, 416; Anshar
and Kishar in the creation epic
and their meaning, 418.
Kishar-gal, cosmological deity, 417.
Kishshat, a foreign god, 644.
Kislcv, gth month, sacred to Nergal,
463-
Kizreti, Ukhati, and Kharimati, the
harlots of Uruk, 475, 531, 660.
Koyunjik, mound, unearthed, 7, 9.
A'zt(?)-anna, 51; place of worship,
102; functions, 102; consort of
Ramman (?), 102.
K'ltdnr-mabuk, 2d dynasty of Ur,
" builder " of temple of Sin in
Ur, 76, 295 ; of temple of Nana
in Ur, Si.
A'umari, city in Babylonia, temple
of Ramman, 242.
Kurigalzu, Cassite, king of Babylon,
cult of Bel of Nippur, 147, 645.
Kutu, see Cuthah.
Lagamal, a foreign god, 644.
Lagash, governors, 36; temple of
Ann, 53, 640; temple of Belit,
56; temple of Bau, 635; quarters
of, 56-7 ; temple of Ningirsu-
Ninib, 57, 87, 635, 640 ; center
of worship of Ninni, So; ancient
center, 35, 245; temple of Dumu-
zi-zu-aba, 96; Dumuzi, temple of
Ninmar, 635 ; temple of Nin-gish-
zida, 99,635; temple of Nina, 635;
temple of Ku(?)-an-na, 1 52 ; temple
of Gimil-Sin, 561 ; shrine of Nin-
girsu, 640; zikkurat of Nin-girsu,
619, 635, 639 ; temple of E-salgisa,
641 ; temple of Nin-si-a, 635 ;
temple of Shabra, 635; temple
of Nin-sun, 635 ; temple of Nin-
tu, 635; votive objects, 673.
Lakhanni, L. and Lakhmu Cosmo-
logical, 197, 410, 417 ; a monster,
414, 418; in incantations, 417;
in Allatu's court, 593.
Larsa, ancient center, 35 ; rulers,
37-8 ; dynasty, 39 ; center of wor-
ship of Shamash, 69, 143-4, 241,
628, 640, 646; zikkurats at L.,
617, 639.
Lasimu, a foreign god, 644.
Layard, Austen Henry, excavations,
7-
Laz, consort of Nergal, 219, 243;
not mentioned in Ass. texts, 219;
not mentioned in religious texts,
583-
Lebanon, cedar forests, 626.
Legal literature, see also Literature :
source for study of religion, 166;
religious character of, 245.
Libations, 664, 666; in Old Testa-
ment and in A.-B., 665.
Libit-Ishtar, 2d dynasty of Ur, builds
temple of Nana in Ur, 81.
Life of the World, name of temple,
641.
Light of Shctmash, name of temple,
641.
760
INDEX.
Lists of gods, 213, 216; character of,
2 33 ! prepared on the basis of
religious texts, 233.
Literature, Ashurbanabal's library,
132; syllabaries, 135; religious 1.,
12, 13, 213, 216, 233, 245, 247,
690-1; temple records, 165; legal
documents, 165-6; connection
betw. religion and literature, 245,
691 ; historical texts, 246 ; uncer-
tain demarcation betw. religious
and secular 1., 247 ; epics, see Gil-
gamesh, Eabani, Adapa ; com-
pound of popular belief and of
theology, 689.
Local cults, origin of, 49 ; confusion
with nature cult, 49-50 ; growth
of, 49; policy of preservation of
local cults by foreign conquerors,
69-70, 106, in; confusion of
(female) local cults, 80 ; promi-
nence given to local gods as com-
pared with others, in; local cult
features and general cult features
compared, no; survival of local
cults, 113; factors obscuring local
cults, 1 13-5 ; political factors, 113;
popular factors, 114; theological
factors, 114; absorption, 114, 168,
171; number of, 170, 234, 274;
in lists, 233 ; of the Ass. pantheon,
234 ; importance diminishes, 235.
Loftus, William K., excavations, 9.
Lofty and Brilliant Wall, name of
temple, 641.
Lot, bears more resemblance to
Parnapishtim than Noah, 507.
Lugal-banda, .god, 51; temple at
Uruk, 95 ; local character, 95 ;
identification with Nergal, 95 ;
signification of name, 95.
L^lgal-edinna, epithet of Nergal,
172, 280.
Lugal-erima (?), god, 51 ; his local
character, 97 ; interpretation of
name, 97.
Lugal-gira, epithet of Nergal, 172,
280.
Lugal-ki-mti-na, in proper names of
the 2d Bab. period, 169.
Liigal-Marada, god, temple at Ma-
rad, 242 , a solar deity, 47 3 ; patron
of Gilgamesh, identical with Sha-
mash, 486.
Lugal-mit-tu, in Samsuiluna's pan-
theon, 162; wall of L., 172;
meaning of name, 172.
Lugal-zaggisi, old Babylonian king
of Uruk, 101 ; his pantheon and
its age, no, 636; gods common
to Lugal-zaggisi's and Gudea's
pantheon, no; priest of Anu,
no.
Luhibite, name of people, 532.
Lzmar cycle and sun calendar, 78.
Ma-an-ish-tursu, servitor of A, 74.
Magarida, a foreign god, 644.
Magganubba, city in n.-e. Assyria,
sanctuary of Sin, 219; restored
by Sargon II., 232 ; cult of Dam-
ku, Sharru-ilu, Sha-nit(?)-ka, 232.
Magical texts, subdivision of reli-
gious literature, 247 ; practical
purposes, 246, 255 ; beginning of
rituals, 247, 253-4, 269 ; number
of, 247; comparative age of, 253,
256; primitive popular thought,
254, 292 ; method of composition,
254 ; titles of, 254-5 ; incantation
rituals and their growth, 255,
283 ff. ; Ea and Eridu prominent
INDEX.
761
in, 256; compiled character,
256-7 ; date of composition, 257 ;
bilingual redaction, 258; metrical
traits, 259 ; source of study of pop-
ular beliefs, 259; occurrence of
Gibil evidence of ancient age of,
277 ; pantheon in m. t. compared
with that in historical texts,
297.
Mahmal, tabernacle, compared with
the Bab. ship for the gods,
655.
Makhir, god of dreams, 323, 402.
iMakhi scries, 286 ff., 302.
Ma-ku-a, name of Marduk's ship,
655.
l\lalik, god, in Nabubalicldin's pan-
theon, 162, 176; associated with
Shamash and Bunene, 176; in
proper names of the time of Ham-
murabi, 176; often used as epi-
thet of Shamash, 176; meaning
of name, 176; Malik and Bunene,
attendants of Shamash, 177 ; con-
sort of Bunene, 177.
Malkatu = A.
Malku, name of canal, 655 ; name
of Naru's ship, 655.
A fa-ma, variant for Gula, 105.
Mum HI if u, goddess ; M. and Anun-
naki determine death and life,
493-
Mamu, a form of Gula in proper
names of the 2d Bab. period,
169.
Mandaean, legend of Rustem paral-
lel to Etana legend, 520 ff.
Mar, district in southern Babylonia,
sacred to Nin-Mar, 100; temple
Ish-gu-tur of Nin-Mar, roo.
Marad, city in Babylonia, temple of
Lugal-Marada, 242 ; native place
of Gilgamesh, 473.
Marches Jiwan, see Arakh-shamnu.
Marduk, 2d Bab. period, deity of
Babylon, 54, 96 ; child par excel-
lence of Ea, 96, 548 ; prominence
of his cult since Hammurabi, 116,
134-5, 690-1 ; his titles, nS, 126,
239, 240, 276, 500^576,630; iden-
tification with Bel and Ea, 118;
solar deity, 1 18, 119, 528, 576, 690 ;
his warlike traits, 119; in religious
texts, 1 20 ; temples in Babylon
(E-Sagila) and Borsippa, 121, 241,
636, 639; his papakhu, 640; his
consort, 121-4, 228; statue brought
from Nineveh to E-Sagila, 684 ;
his statue recovered by Agum,
122, 152,670,687 ; lord of E-Sag-
ila and E-Zida, 126; New Year's
Day his festival, 127, 631, 678,
68 1 ; mediator betw. Ea and man-
kind, 139, 276 ; Marduk and Ea
in incantation texts, 139-40 ;
conquers Tiamat, 140, 197, 408,
422 ; rivaled by Ramman, 158 ;
during the Cassite period, 162 ;
called Sag-ila, 169; lord of Anun-
naki and Igigi, 186, 239; absorbs
the role of other gods, 190, 409 ;
builds Eshara, 198 ; blended with
Bel, 54, 145-6, 148, 222, 542 ;
Bel's titles applied to, 222, 409,
542, 635 ; position in the Assy-
rian pantheon, 224-5, 239 > ass°-
ciated with Ashur, 224 ; asso-
ciated with Ashur, Shamash, and
Ramman, 224 ; second to Ashur,
239 ; prominence of his cult in the
neo-B. period, 239-40; rivaled
by Nabu in the pantheon of Nebo-
762
INDEX.
polassar, 240, 679 ; also in old
Bab. period, 648 ; in incantations,
272-3, 276; in the Shurpu series,
288 ; in hymns, 307 ff. ; lord of
rest, 309 ; god of oracles, esp. in
the south, 342, 345 ; zodiacal in-
terpretation, 370, 431, 45s-9> D?6-
7; his double aspect in the crea-
tion epic, 409, 432, 450; takes the
tablets of fate from Kingu, 428
(cf. 542, 681); creates the universe,
428 ff., 447; establishes the dis-
tricts of Anu, Bel, and Ea, 432 ;
arranges the stations of the gods
in the zodiacal system, 434 ; cre-
ates man, 437 (cf. Ea, Bel, 443,
448) ; the fifty names (of the Igigi)
are bestowed upon M., 438 ; cre-
ates the Anunnaki, 447 ; = Nibir,
i.e., Jupiter, exercises control over
all the stars, 434, 458-9; 8th
month sacred to M., 463, 678,
686; Marduk as Sharru in the
deluge story, 500 ; absent in the
deluge story, 508 ; dogs symbol
of the solar god Marduk, 528 ;
conquers Zu, 542 ; identified with
Adapa, 548 ; temple at Ashur,
637; zikkurat at Babylon, 639;
ship of Marduk, 655 ; procession
on New Year, 679; spec, festival
instituted by Agum, 687.
RTarduk-baladan, of Babylon, 129.
Mardtik-nadin-akhe, king of Baby-
lon, carried statues of Ramman
and Shala to Babylon, 212.
Marriage offerings, time of, 59 ; to
Bau, 59.
Mars = Nergal, name of planet, 370,
459 ; the " sheep " par excellence,
459-
Mar-tu = Ramman, 166, 212.
Marwa, hill in Mecca, 687.
Mas /i te, mythical mountain, 488-9 ;
= Musas or Masis, 516.
Musis, or Musas, = Mashu, 515.
Mecca, 623.
Medes, 44-5.
Median wedge writing, 19.
Meme, variant of Gula, 175.
Mer= Ramman, 1 57.
Mercury = Nabu, planet, 371, 459.
Mesopotamia, religious ideas and
customs, 1,3; seat of Terahites,
2 ; empire of Nimrod, 2 ; geog-
raphy, 26, 27 ; character of, 28 ff.
Messiah, Hammurabi and the Hebr.-
Christian notion of Messianic
time, 533.
Mili-shikhu, king of Babylon, his
cult of Shamash, 144; minor gods
worshipped, 172.
Minor gods, 2d Bab. period, 171-
2 ; by Mili-shikhu, 172 ; some
Cassite deities, 172 ; in Ass.
texts, 171 ; in neo-B. period, 171,
242-3 ; absorbed by greater gods,
in, 147, 171, 177, 190, 233; pa-
tron-gods of arts, 178; as per-
sonifications, 179; dividing line
betvv. spirits and m.g., 183, 233.
Mishiru, a foreign deity, 644.
Mitanni wedge writings, 20.
Months, .connected with gods, 462 ff.,
676; names of the months, 464;
m. sacred to gods and their festi-
vals not always corresponding,
687.
Monumental finds, 7.
Moon, importance of m. as omen
giver, 358 ; manifold relations be-
tween man and m., 358 ; impor-
INDEX.
763
tance of m. for calendar, 436,
461 ; moon and sun in religion
and astronomy, 461.
Moon-god, see Sin.
Moses, 130 ; parallelism with Sargon
I., 562.
Mosul, excavations near, 5.
Mitgheir, mound, excavated, 9 ; see
also Ur.
Mummu, associated with Apsu and
Tiamat, 420-1.
Milnter, Frederick, decipherment of
wedge writing, T 5.
Musas, or Masis, = Mashu, 516.
Mythology, see also Nature ; extent
and influence of Bab. m., 518 ff.
Nabonnedos, of Babylon, restores
temple of Shamash in Sippar, 70,
647 ; last king of Babylonia, 45 ;
restores temple of Sin in Harran,
77, 646 ; gives prominence to
Shamash cult, 240-1.
Nabu, god, 2cl B. period, 127 ; most
prominent trait, 1 24 ; probable
aqueous origin, 124-5, 22° 5 rank
as compared with that of Ea and
Marduk, 125, 648; agricultural
deity, 125 ; suppression of cult by
Hammurabi and his successors,
126; becomes son of Marduk,
127, 240 (cf. 648-9); his shrine
in E-Sagila, 127, 220-9, 636;
prominence during the Assyrian
period, 128-9, 228; his symbol,
128; temple at Calah, 128, 228-
9; prominence during the neo-
Bab. period, 129, 240 ; his epithets,
129-31, 229; meaning of name,
1303 his functions, 130, 240; his
cult with other Semites, 130 ;
identified with Nusku, 220; his
consort Tashmitum, 130, 228-
9; his consort Nana, 224;
favorite of Rammannirari III.,
128, 228; temple E-Zida in Bor-
sippa, 121, 229, 241, 639, 648;
god of wisdom, 129, 229; son of
Ea, 229 ; in the subscript to
Ashurbanabal's tablets, 229-30;
similarity and difference betw. N.
and Ea, 230-1 ; in hymn, 306 ;
shrine E-makh-tila in Borsippa,
307, 636; god of oracles in Assyria,
344, 348 ; = Mercury, name of
planet, 371, 459; in the deluge,
500 ; sanctuary E-pad-kalama-
suma, 640; Nabu's ship and pro-
cession, 654, 679.
Nabn-akhe-irba, astrologer, 340.
Nabn-bal-iddin, king of Babylon,
162, 685 ; restores cult of Sippar,
176, 628, 645, 670 ; votive offer-
ings, 670.
Nabupolassar, see Nebopolassar.
A'ti>nar, district in Babylonia, sacred
" to Ramman, Nergal, and Nana,
159, 164-
Names, transference of name and
interpretation of this act, 118,
140-1 ; composition of proper
names, 16^ ; Bab. etymologies of
names, 173.
Nam tar, god of pestilence, 569 ;
strikes Ishtar with disease, 570;
messenger of Allatu, 570, 580.
Nana, goddess, 51 ; titles, 81; center
of worship, 81 ; position in the
pantheon proper and in the cos-
mology, 8 1 ; her temples, E-anna
in Uruk, Si, 242, 311, 531, 639;
E-ul-mash in Agade, 82 ; in Ur,
764
INDEX.
81-2,85,202,311,639,678; statue
captured by Elamites and recap-
tured by Ashurbanabal, 85, 206 ;
absorbs inferior local deities, 103 ;
associated with Nergal and Ram-
man, 159, 164; worshipped by
Assyr. kings, 206 ; consort of Na-
bu, 224 ; Zag-muk of Nana, 678.
Nannar = Sin, etymology of N.,
75; N. attached to Ur, 75 ; Sin
to Harran, 76; his position, 76;
his representation, 76 ; his func-
tions, 76, 78 ; his epithets, 76,
79, 89; relationship to Ningal,
97-
Naram-Sin, founds temple of
Shamash in Sippar, 70, 646 ; his
exploits incorporated in omen
text, 562 ; builder of the temple
of En-lil in Nippur, 642.
Ndru, river god in incantations, 282 ;
ship of Naru, 655 ; place of
worship, 655.
Nature, worship, 48 ; confusion with
local cults, 49-50 ; nature myth,
432-3, 487, 494.
Nazi-Maruttash, Cassite king, vo-
tive objects, 671-2.
Nebo, mount in Moab, place of
death of Moses, 130.
Nebopolassar, king of Babylon, 129;
makes Babylon independent, 239 ;
makes cult of Marduk prominent,
239; makes cult of Nabu promi-
nent, 240 ; Shamash cult at Larsa,
647, note 3.
Nebuchadnezzar /., expels the Cas-
sites, 88, 158; cult of Marduk
and Ramman, 158, 162 ; his
pantheon, 162.
Nebuchadnezzar II., religion of N.
and Daniel, 3; builder of Birs
Nimrud, 9; rule, 44; worships
Sarpanitum as the begetting deity,
122 ; makes cult of Marduk prom-
inent, 240, 646; revives ancient
cults, 242-3; restores temple of
Nin-karrak at Sippar, 294 ; his
prayers exemplification of ethical
tendencies, 299; opposed to Bel
cult in Nippur, 646 ; restores
Shamash temple in Sippar, 646;
Ishtar cult in Uruk, 648.
Nergal, god, 5 1 ; local cult and temple
in Cuthah, 65, 164, 218, 563, 583,
648 ; worship in Palestine, 65 ; in
Uruk, 66; his names and their
meanings, 66; functions, 66-7,
537 ; development of his attri-
butes, 67-8, 582, 593 ; identifica-
tion with Lugal-banda, 95 ; with
Irkalla, 592 ; associated with Allat,
104, 183, 565, 580, 593; associated
with Ramman and Nana, 159,
164 ; Nergal in Samsuiluna's pan-
theon, 162; in Nebuchadnezzar's
I. pantheon, 162; epithets, 172;
chief of nether-world and subter-
ranean demons, 183 (cf. 260), 511,
563, 582 ; associated with Ninib
as god of the chase, 216, 218,
237; with Ninib and Ashur, 216,
218; god of war, 218, 582; Cuthah
his sacred city, 164, 218, 563, 583;
Kar-Nergal named in his honor,
219; temple at Tarbisu, 219; Laz
his consort, 219, 243, 583; iden-
tified with Dibbarra, 232, 528-9,
594; perhaps = Bel-sarbi, 242 ; in
incantations, 273, 280; phases
of, 280, 4 59; = Mars as name of
planet, 370, 459 ; Qth month
INDEX,
765
sacred to N., 463 ; sun of midday
and summer solstice, 528, 582 ;
pictured as a lion, 530 ; the lion a
symbol of Nergal, 537, 580, 582 ;
identified with Gibil, 594 ; associ-
ated with Allatu, 104, 183, 565,
580, 583, 593 ; Nergal conquers
and weds Allatu, 584-5 ; imitation
of Tiamat-Marduk fight, 585.
Nether-world, names of: Aralu, 557;
Ekur, 558; Shualu, 558; Kigallu,
562 ; Irkalla, 563 ; Kutu or Cuthah,
563; epithets for n., 559, 563;
Nergal, lord of the n., 563 ; the
older head of the lower world a
goddess, Allatu, not a god, 585.
New Year's Festival, see Zag-muk.
Nibir = planet Marduk or Jupiter,
in the zodiac in conjunction with
Bel and Ea, 434-5 ; exercises con-
trol over all the stars, 458.
Nicolas of Dantasctes, source B.-A.
religion, i, 412.
ATicbuhr, Carsten, 15.
Niffer, excavations, 1 1 ; see Nippur.
Nika, mother of Esarhaddon, 340.
Nimrod, incidental biblical reference
to, 2; not = Gilgamesh, 514.
Nimrud (mound), unearthed, 7 ;
temple, 9, 627.
Nina, quarter in Lagash, 57, 86;
explanation of name, 86.
Nina, goddess, 51 ; explanation of
name, 86 ; centers of worship,
86-8, 635 ; associations with Nin-
girsu, 87, 635 ; relations to Ea,
87-8 ; fusion with Ishtar of Nine-
veh, 88; interprets a dream, 101;
a daughter of Nin-si-a, 102; in
Gudea's pantheon, 106, 635.
Nin-a-gal, god, 51 ; meaning of name,
64 ; function, 64 ; identification
with Ea, 64.
Nin-akha-kuddu, goddess, 51 ; her ti-
tles in incantation texts, 103, 282 ;
in Lugalzaggisi's pantheon, no;
goddess of purification, 282 ; mis-
tress of Uruk, 103, 282; water
deity, 282 ; lady of spells, 282.
Nin-azu, " god of the great city,"
592 ; associated with Allatu, 586,
590; god of healing, 590; identi-
fied with Ninib, 591.
Nin-dara, see Nin-si-a.
Nin-dim-su, god, in the Cassite pan-
theon, 162, 172; epithet of Ea,
173-
Nin-din-dug, name of Bau. (See
Corrections.)
Nin-e-gal, variant of Nin-gal, 98.
Nineveh, center of action in book of
Judith, 3; site of, 6; capital of
Assyria, 46, 193, 651 ; cult of Ish-
tar, 152, 202-3; temple PZmash-
mash of Ishtar, 1 52 ; resp. of
Belit,-227 ; Sha-nit(?)-ka, mistress
of,, 233 ; worship of all gods and
goddesses, 638 ; intellectual cen-
ter, 651.
Nin-gal, god, 51 ; center of worship,
97; relationship to Nannar, 97;
sanctuary at Khorsabad, 231;
Nin-gaPs ship, 655.
Nin-gir-su, solar deity, 51; subordi-
nate to Bel, 53, 57; identity with
Ninib, 57, 217 (cf. 528); temple
E-Ninnu in Girsu, 57, 87, 634-5,
640; votive offerings, 57; agri-
cultural deity = Shulgur, 58 ; iden-
tity with Tammuz, 58 ; relations
to Nin-shakh, 93 ; in Gudea's
pantheon, 1 06; in incantations,
766
INDEX.
273 ; zikkurat in Lagash or Girsu,
619, 635, 639; shrine in Lagash,
640; his ship, 654; consort of
Bau, 59, 677.
Nin-gish-zida, solar deity, 51 ; a form
of Nin-girsu, 92 ; meaning of
name, 92 ; identified with Ninib,
Nin-girsu, Nin-shakh, 99, 217, 528,
547 ; local character, 99, 528 ; tem-
ple in Girsu, 99, 635 ; in Gudea's
inscriptions and incantation texts,
99, 1 06, 280; consort of Nusku,
280; brings famine in the land,
387 ; 5th month sacred to N., 462,
547 ; servant of Gibil, 463 ; 4th
month sacred to, 463; identical
with Gish-zida, 547 ; associated
with Tammuz, 546, 588 ; presides
over the growth of trees, 588.
Nin-gul, 5 1 ; consort of Lugal-banda,
95 ; interpretation of name, 95 ;
place of worship, 96.
Ninib, see Nin-girsu, solar deity, 57,
217, 459, 462, 576, 684; consort
of Gula, 105 (cf. 576, 591); of Belit-
ekalli, 173; in Hammurabi's pan-
theon, 162 ; in Nebuchadnezzar's
I. pantheon, 162, 164; god of war,
164,214, 2i8;=Ud-zal, 166; asso-
ciated with Ashur, 214; epithets,
213-4, 217; temple in Calah, 214-
5 (cf. 684) ; favorite of Ashurnasir-
bal and Shamshi-Ramman, 214;
god of the chase in association
with Nergal, 216, 218, 237 ; hero of
the heavenly and earthly spirits,
214; in association with Nergal
and Ashur, 216; identical with
Nin-girsu, 57, 217; with Nin-azu,
591 ; absorbs Nin-gish-zida and
Nin-shakh, 217 (cf. 547); repre-
sents east sun and morning sun,
217; first-born of Ea, 217; off-
spring of Ekur, 217 ; first-born of
Bel, 217 ; god of destructive cloud
storm, 217, 500; other qualities
in religious literature, 218, 576;
name of outer wall of Sargon's II.
palace, 237 ; lays the foundations
of cities, 237 ; three forms, 238 ;
temple in Dilbat, 242 ; in incanta-
tions, 273, 280 ; = Saturn, name of
planet, 371, 459; 6th and nth
months sacred, 215, 684; 4th
month sacred to N., 462 ; in the
deluge story, 500 (cf. 217), 504;
worshipped at Nippur, 635 ; tem-
ple of Zamama-Ninib, 640.
Nin-igi-azag, title of Ea, 230.
Nin-igi-nangar-bu, 171 ; presides
over metal workers, 178.
Nin-Karrak = goddess Gula, 242 ;
temple at Babylon (see Gula), 242 ;
in incantations, 273 ; temple at
Sippar, 294 ; in a prayer of Nebu-
chadnezzar, 294.
Nin-khar-sag — goddess Belit, 1 64 ;
in Samsuiluna's pantheon, 162,
164 ; sanctuary at Babylon (see
Belit}, 242, 639.
Nin-kigal= Allatu, 282.
Nin-kurra, 171; lord of mountain,
patron of stone workers, 178.
Nin-lil, see Belit.
Nin-lil-anna, in Nebuchadnezzar's
II. pantheon, 242 ; temple in Baby-
lon, 640.
Nin-makh — Ishtar, 242 ; temple at
Babylon, 242.
Nin-mar, goddess, 51 ; center of
worship, 100; her temples in Mar,
100; daughter of Nina, 100; pop-
INDEX.
767
ularity of cult, 100; in Gudea's
pantheon, 106, 635; daughter of
Marduk, 168; temple at Lagash,
635-
Ninni, goddess, = Enanna, 51 ;
titles, 80 ; center of worship, 80 ;
variant of Ishtar, 82 ; in Lugal-
zaggisi's and Gudea's panthea,
1 10 ; identical with Nana of Uruk,
in; temple at Hallabi, 117; her
cult by Hammurabi, 144-5 ;
" Ninni," consort of Zamama,
169; temple in Kish, 639.
Nin-shakh, god, 51 ; his character
and functions, 93 ; identified with
Ninib, 93, 217; relations to Nin-
girsu and Nin-gishzida, 92-3;
temple at Uruk, 93.
Ninshar, cosmological deity, 417.
Nin-si-a, god, 51 ; or Nin-dar-a, 90;
center of worship, 91, 635; ab-
sorbed by Nin-girsu, 91 ; in
Gudea's pantheon, 106, 635.
Nin-sun, god, temple of N. at La-
gash, 635.
Nin-tu, god, temple of N. at Lagash,
635.
Nin-zadim, god, 171; patron of
sculpture, 178.
Nippur, rulers, 37 ; temple of Bel,
"» 37, 69, 51, 54, 151, 642,644;
temple of Belit, 55, 635 ; inscrip-
tions from Nippur, 103 ; promi-
nence during Cassite period, 40,
146, 480 ; wall of Zakar, 172 ; wall
of Lugal-mittu, 172; ancient cen-
ter, 245, 445; chief god Bel, or
En-lil, 445, 542 ; reference to N.
in Gilgamesh epic, 486 ; rivalry
betw. Nippur and Eridu, 508 ; re-
placed by Babylon, 542 ; zikkurat
at N., 617 ; worship of Ninib, 635 ;
worship of Nusku, 635 ; votive
objects, 671-3.
Nisaba, goddess, 51; agricultural
deity, 101 ; traits in common with
Ea, 101; sister of Nina, 101; centers
of cult, 102 ; in Gudea's pantheon,
in; probably local in Uruk, 1 1 r .
Nisan, sacred to Anu and Bel, 462,
677; sacred in Babylonia, 684;
7th day sacred to Shamash, Mal-
katu, and Bunene, 685.
Nisir, mount on which the ship
alights, 503.
Nisroch, Assyrian deity, 2.
Noah, resemblance to Parnapishtim
less than is the case with Lot, 507.
Nu-gim-mud; title of Ea, 230.
Nun-gal, god of the 2d Bab. period,
1 68 ; temple in Sippar, 168 ; mean-
ing of name, 168 ; solar deity,
1 68 ; becomes a demon, 168.
Nzir-Ramman, of Ur, builder of
Sin's temple in Ur, 76 ; builder
of temples to Nin-gal and Nan-
nar at Ur, 97.
Nusku, fire-god, in Ass. pantheon,
188, 220-1 ; in Bab. pantheon,
220 ; amalgamated with Gibil,
220, 277 ; identified with Nabu,
220-1 ; ideographic writing of
name and its explanation, 220 ;
solar deity, 220-1, 279; shrine in
E-Sagila, 220, 241 ; epithets, 221,
277, 280; functions, 221; shrine
in E-Zida, 241; in incantations,
271-3, 277, 286; younger than
Gibil, 277; a mythological con-
ception, 277, 279; Gibil-N., god
of civilization, 278 ; medium betw.
worshipper and deity, 279; asso-
768
INDEX.
dated with Ann, 277, 286 ; asso-
ciated with Bel and Ea, 279, 286 ;
Ishum, messenger of, 280; wor-
ship at Nippur, 635 ; see Gibil.
Okeanos, see under Ea, 63.
Old Testament, source for B.-A. re-
ligion, i, 669 (cf. 696) ; relations
betw. the Hebrews and B.-A., 2,
611, 697-8; contrast betw. Hebr.
and B.-A. religion, 3, 668 ; O. T.
points of contact with Gilgamesh
epic, 495; w^tn deluge story,
506 ff.; parallels betw. Adam and
Eabani, Eve and Ukhat, 511;
betw. Samson and Gilgamesh
stories, 515-6; 3d chapter Gene-
sis compared with Adapa legend,
551; Hebr. Sheol || Bab. Shualu,
560 ; Hebr. Shoel || Bab. Sha'ilu,
560 ; Hebr.-Bab. custom of inquir-
ing of the dead, 560 ; parallelism
betw. Sargon I. and Moses, -562 ;
conceptions of nether-world in
O. T. and in Bab., 606 ; paral-
lels betw. temple of Solomon and
Bab. temple, 623, 632, 652-3,
655 ; libation of oil in O. T. and
in Ass.-Bab., 665 ; sacrifices in
O. T. compared with Ass.-Bab.,
667-8 ; teraphim and Ass.-Bab.
amulets, 674; Hebr. and Bab.
New Years, 68 1 ; Purim compared
with Bab. i5th Adar festival, 686 ;
Ashera and tree worship in Baby-
lonia, 689.
Omens, division of religious litera-
ture, 247; purposes of, 248, 331 ;
comparative age of, 253-4 ; an in-
direct means of forecasting the
future, 329; directions for the
priest in recognizing o., 330; re-
lationship betw. o. and prayers,
33 r ; part of magic element in the
ritual, 331 ; occasions for seeking
an o., 331 ff.; derived from offered
animals, 332 ; of a public character,
332 ff., 362, 364, 374, 401 ; ques- ,
tions of an omen seeker, 333 ff., j
369 ; list of, 337, 362 ; their rela-
tion to reports, 368, 372 ; o. ritual,
338 ; connecting link betw. incan-
tations and o., 352 ; variety of o.
literature, 355, 362 ; o. from stars,
356 ; the more variety, the more
significance — a principle of gen-
eral application in interpretation
of o., 358; other guiding prin-
ciples, 358 ff., 388, 401 ; private o.,
362, 403, 405; o. series and mode
of their composition, 363 ; omens
deduced from observations of
eclipses, 357, 364 ; restricted ap-
plication of o. no hindrance to
their practical use, 366, 372 ; vague-
ness of o. intentional, 367 ; inter-
relation betw. reports and o., 368,
372-3; importance of o. deduced
from eclipses and more ordinary
phenomena, 368-9 ; omens de-
duced from observations of plan-
ets, esp. Ishtar, and of other
heavenly bodies, 371-3; omen
calendars, 375, 382 ; omens from
terrestrial phenomena, 383 ff.;
^logical principle controlling the
interpretation, 384; offshoot of
sympathetic magic, 384; birth
omens, 384 ; partly public, partly
private character, 386 ; the rarer
the phenomena, the greater the
significance, 385; ideas of sym-
INDEX.
769
pathetic magic in the interpreta-
tion of o., 388 ; omens from off-
springs of animals, 391 ff.; omens
from the actions of animals, 397-
402 ; omens from dreams, 402-4 ;
o. of a private character, 403 ; pop-
ular phase of augury, 403 ; omens
from individual experiences, 404;
dividing line betw. omens of indi-
vidual and of public character,
405 ; the practical working of the
omen belief, 406.
Op/tites, a gnostic sect, 699.
Oppcrt, Jules, expedition to Baby-
lonia, 8.
Oracles, see also Omens and Witch-
craft, direct means of forecasting
the future, 329 ; occasions for
asking o., 338 ff.; blank forms
for o., 341 ; form of, 341 ff.; Mar-
duk, god of, 342 ; asked of the
sun-god, 334 ff.; of Ishtar of
Arbela, 342 ; ceremonies accom-
panying o., 345 ; relationship to
penitential psalms, 347 ; practical
purpose of, 349 ; by means of
dreams, 349 ff. ; generally vague
language, 344 ; occasionally defi-
nite language, 360 ; objects with
which o. are concerned, 360 ; given
by priestesses, 485, or priests, 329,
560, . 657-8 ; asked of the dead,
559-60, 657 ; asked on the New
Year's festival, 628-9.
Pantheon, divisions and develop-
ment, 48-50; sources, 51 ; com-
parison betw. p. in historical and
in incantation texts, 297 ; com-
parison betw. B. and A. pantheon,
189, 201.
Papakhii, chamber of the god, 627 ;
cosmological significance, 629.
Fap-sukal, i.e., divine messenger,
epithet of Nin-shakh, Nebo, and
Nusku, 93 (cf. 463, 571); in incan-
tations, 273 ; roth month sacred
to P., Ishtar, and Anu, 463.
Pap-u, god, in the Cassite pantheon,
162, 172 ; offspring of E-sharra,
174 ; function, 174.
Paradise, belief in, among Babylo-
nians, 578.
Parakku, chamber of the god, 627.
Parnapishtim, immortal, 488, 577 ;
P. and Gilgamesh, 492 ff. ; son of
Kidin-Marduk, 488, 496 ; born in
Shurippak, 496 ; his epithet Adra-
Khasis, 505 ; bears more resem-
blance to Lot than to Noah, 507.
Pa-sag, god, 51; "the leader of the
land," 101 ; identity with Ishum,
101 ; lieutenant of Shamash, 107 ;
in Gudea's pantheon, 106.
Patesi, 198.
Pat> on gods, of persons, 216, 235 ;
Nabu, patron of Ramman-nirari
III., 228 ; of places, 49, 69-70,
106, in.
Penitential psalms, points in com-
mon with and differences from
incantations, 312 ; national origin
of, 312 ; marks relationship betw.
god and man, 313 ; purpose to ap-
pease the anger of the gods, 315,
688 ; advanced religious concep-
tions, 314-5, 326; dialogue form,
315; language, 316-7; age, 317 ;
anonymity of the deity addressed,
318; p. for specific purposes, 324,
688 ; relationship to oracles, 347.
Persepolis, wedge writings, 16.
770
INDEX.
Persian Gulf, sacred to Ea, 497 ;
not the source of the deluge, 497 ;
confluence of the streams, 577.
Persian -wedge writing, 19.
Personifications of human arts, 178.
Peters, John P., explorer, 1 1 .
Pilgrimage, 684.
Place, Victor, excavations, 8.
Place of Fates, name of temple, 641.
Planets, observations of, 370 ; iden-
tifications of p. with deities, 370,
459 (cf- 619) ; prominence of Ish-
tar- Venus, in astrological texts,
371 ; regarded as auguries for the
chiefs and the general welfare,
373 ; planets and zikkurats, 619.
Politics, affecting religion and litera-
ture, 108, no-i, 134-5, 201, 239,
690-1.
Popular Belief, see Theology and
Popular Belief.
Prayers, see also Hymns, occa-
sions, 663 ; in connection with
incantations, 293, 299 ; without
accompaniment of incantations,
294 ; curses regarded as p., 296 ;
no line of demarcation betw. in-
cantations and p., 297, 299, 307 ;
ethics in, 298 ; power of words,
328 ; no p. in its highest form,
329 ; relationship betw. prayers
and omen, 330; efficacy dependent
on their being uttered in the right
manner and by the right person,
353-
Priestly codes, 362.
Priests and priestesses, divisions of,
269, 241-2, 657-8 ; p. as exerciser
and his function, 271-2, 330, 657-
8 ; mediator betw. man and god,
3I5»*33I» 353» 374, 560,627,692;
prognostication of future, 329,
560, 657 ; importance of, 353 ;
" Priests of Ashur," association
of priestly functions with early
kingship, 374 ; priests and priest-
esses in their functions, 485,
655 ff., 692 ; priests purifying the
dead, 578, 602 ; general name for
priest, 657-8, 676; priestesses
as dirge singers, 604, 658 ; as
judges, 625, 658; intellectual
leaders, 693 ; as sacrificers, 657-8 ;
eligibility to priesthood, 658-9 ;
women priests, 485, 659-60.
Proper names, see also Nantes, com-
position of, 165; source of study
of divinities, 166; evidence of age
of cult of gods (Ishme-Dagan),
208 ; Samsi-Ramman, 209.
Psalms, see Penitential Psalms ;
also Hymns, Prayers.
Ptolemy, see Clandhts Ptolemaeus.
Ptidilu, builds temple of Shamash
at Ashur, 209.
Pttrat= Euphrates, 27.
Purification, see Rituals.
Purim, compared with the Bab.
solar festival, 1 5th of Adar, 686 ;
not to be compared with Puru,
688.
Pnru, a festival ceremony, 688.
Puzur-Skadu-Rabti, captain of the
ship of Parnapishtim, 500.
Ra, Egyptian sun-god, 210.
Rabbinical literature, bearing upon
B.-A. religion, 3, 697.
Races, of Mesopotamia, 24, 33.
Ramman, god, Shala his consort,
102, 161, 212; associated with
Anu, 154, 207, 212; associated
INDEX.
771
with Shamash, 145, 157-8, 160,
2 1 1 ; associated with Sin and
Shamash, 158, 163; associated
with Nergal and Nana, 159, 164;
rivals of Marduk, 1 58 ; ideographic
and other readings of the name,
156-7 ; meaning of name, 156-7;
extent of his cult, 159; cult
by Aramaeans, 1 59 ; indigenous
to Assyria, 159; rival of Ashur,
161 ; his two aspects as storm-
god, 1 60 ; epithets, 156, 158, 160,
212, 498; in Hammurabi's pan-
theon, 162; in Nebuchadnezzar's
I. pantheon, :62; = Martu, 166,
212; popular in Assyria, 211 ; his
instruments of destruction, 212;
" the mightiest of the gods," 212 ;
name of one of the eastern gates of
Sargon's II. palace, 237 ; brings
abundance, 237 ; temple at Bor-
sippa, 242 ; temple at K'umari, 242 ;
nth month sacred to R., 463; R.
in the deluge, 500 ; declines to
fight Zu, 541.
Ramman-nirari /., king of Assyria,
155; cult of Ramman, 159; of
Anunnaki and Igigi as spirits of
earth and heaven resp., 185 ; re-
pels the Cassites, 199 ; his pan-
theon, 237, 593.
Ramman-nirarilll., king of Assyria,
gives prominence to Nabu cult in
Assyria, 128, 228; erects temple
to Nabu at Calah, 228; Nabu
his patron god, 228.
Rassam, Hormuzd researches, 9.
Rawlinson, Henry, explorations, 9.
Regnlus, observations, 372.
Religion, unity of church and state,
690 ; influence upon Hebrews, see
Old Testament ; upon Christianity,
698 ; upon Egypt, Persia, and
Greece, 699-701.
Religions texts, 12-3, 467 ; sources
for religion, 51, 66 1 ; in Bab. theo-
logical schools, 134; reshaping of
r. t. during Hammurabi's time,
140-2; divisions, 247-51; age,
691 ; comparison betw. Ass. and
Bab. r. t., 251-2 ; their value as
source for knowledge of sacrifices,
661 ; votive inscriptions on statues,
669; on other objects, 671-2;
worn as amulets, 672; plague
tablets, 536, 674.
Rim-Sin, of 2d dynasty of Ur,
" called " by Bel and Ea, 62 ; cult
of moon and sun-god in Ur, 70;
of Nana in Ur, Si ; builds temple
of Nin-shakh at Uruk, 93; his
wife builds temple to Nin-gal at
Ur, 97.
Rituals, establishment of, 115; and
incantations, 247-8, 253-4, 283;
manner of growth, 255 ; purifica-
tion, 284, 688 ; incantations the
oldest fixed r., 294 ; penitential
psalms, 312 ff., 688; bodily casti-
gation, 320, 688 ; offerings, 328 ;
prayers, 293 ff. ; never without
ulterior motive, 328 ; oracles and
omens, 328 ff. ; composition and
growth, 329-30 ; strictness in ob-
servation of, 347.
Rustem, son of Sal in Armen. and
Mandaean legend, parallel to
Etana, 520.
Saba, district in southern Arabia, 491.
Sabitnm, maiden in Gilgamesh epic,
490-1 ; the goddess of Siduri, 491.
772
INDEX.
Sacred objects, 651.
Sacred period, 686.
Sacred quarter, 622 ff.
Sacredness of animals, meaning of,
397-8, 662 ; of trees, 662-3.
Sacrifices, when not to be offered,
378; when offered, 663, 667-8;
offered by priests, 657-8 ; Semitic
view of, 660; comparison with
Hebrew, 667-8; as determined
from religious and historical lit-
erature, 66 1 ; development of,
66 1 ; two kinds of, 66 1 ; con-
nected with prayers, 663; use of
oil and wine, 664, 666 ; daily, 667 ;
monthly, 668.
Sadii, the hunter in the service of
Gilgamesh, 475 ; associated with
Ukhat, 51 1.
Safa, hill in Mecca, 687.
*Sag-ila = Marduk, in proper names
of the 2cf Bab. period, 169.
Sal, father of Rustem, 520. .
Sanisi-l\anunan, king of Assyria,
builds temple to Ramman, 154,
159; builds temple to Ashur in
Ashur, 198 ; his name as evidence
of age of Shamash cult, 209.
Samson, parallelism with Gilga-
mesh, 515 ff.
Samsuiliina, king of Babylon, 56 ;
builds sanctuary of Belit, 56 ;
builds Dur-padda, sacred to Ram-
man, 158; his pantheon, 162;
builds wall of Zakar in Nippur,
172; builds wall of Lugal-mittu
in Nippur, 172.
Samuel, prophet, his spirit called
up, 559-
Saracus, last king of Assyria, 229.
•JS argon /., " builds " temple E-ulmash
of Nana in Agade, 82; myth of
Sargon I. || to an incident in Moses'
life, 562 ; his exploits incorpo-
rated in a religious text, 562 ;
" builder " of temple of En-lil in
Nippur, 642, 645.
Sargon II., of Assyria, restores
" laws and customs of Ilarran,"
77 ; builds sanctuary to Shamash,
211; names Kar-Nergal in honor
of Nergal, 219; builds sanctuary
to Sin at Khorsabad and Mag-
ganubba, 219 ; patron of learning,
229; prominence of Nabu cult,
229; erects sanctuary to Nin-gal
at Khorsabad, 231 ; restores Mag-
ganubba, 232 ; revives the triad,
236 ; his pantheon, 237 ; his palace
at Khorsabad, 225, 237 ; his zik-
kurat at Khorsabad, 617 ; sacri-
fices in Babylonia, 664 ; institutes
special festival, 687.
Sarpanitum, consort of Marduk,
121, 224, 228, 636; interpretation
of name, 121, 449 ; shrine in
E-Sagila, 121, 241, 636, 641 ; her
statue recovered by Agum, 122,
1 52, 670, 687 ; her subordinate
position, 1 2 1-2; goddess of mat-
rimonial fertility, 122, 684; of
secret knowledge, 122 ; amalga-
mation with Erua, 122; epithets
of Sarpanitum-Erua, 123; called
Belit, 224, 684; shrine in E-Zida,
241 ; rarely in incantations, 276 ;
2 ^th day of Siwan her festival,
684 ; festival instituted by Agum,
687.
Saturn = "Nimb, planet, 371, 459.
Saul, king of Israel, and the witch,
559-
INDEX.
773
Semites and no n- San itcs in Baby-
lonia, 21-2, 32-4.
Sendschirli, excavations in, 579.
Senkereh = Larsa.
Sennacherib, king of Assyria, 200;
takes statues of Ramman and
Shala back from Babylon, 212;
erects temple to Nergal at Tar-
bisu, 219; his pantheon, 238, 644,
note 2.
Seven spirits, cause eclipse of moon,
264, 276; 1 2th month sacred to
them, 463; Sibi, collective per-
sonification of the s. p. associated
in war with Ishum, 533.
Sex, inferiority of female to male in
the B.-A. pantheon, 75, 79, 104;
confusion of female cults, 80 ; vari-
ety of "ladies" in pantheon, 98,
104; position of female deities as
consorts of male deities, 104, 586,
594 ; male deities becoming female
and consorts of male deities, 177,
280; association of sexes in cos-
mology, 411 ; association of sexes
in the creation of the gods, 413;
female deities and the months,
463 ; sex in witchcraft, 267, 342,
660 ; sex in priesthood, 485, 659-
60; sex in furnishing oracles, 485,
660 ; sex among musicians and
dirge singers, 660 (see Dirge) ;
position of woman, 694.
Shabat, i ith month, sacred to Ram-
man, 463 ; sacred to Ninib, 2 1 5,
684.
Shabra, god, temple at Lagash, 635.
Shailu, a designation for priest,
560; || Ilebr. Shoel, 560.
Shala, consort of Ramman, 161,
212; in proper names of 2d Bab.
period, 169; in Ass. pantheon,
189 ; meaning of name, 2 13; other
applications of the name, 213;
epithets, 213.
Shalman, god, in Ass. pantheon,
1 88.
Shalmaneser II., king of Assyria,
gives prominence to Shamash
cult, 205, 215 ; his pantheon,
237-
Shamash, or Utu, 51, 277 ; significa-
tion of name, 68 ; relations to the
moon-god, 68-70, 98, 305 ; centers
of worship, Sippar and Larsa,
69, 117, 143, 176, 241, 628, 640,
646; relative age of the centers,
70; temple Ebabbara, 70, 628,
640, 645 ; attributes and func-
tions, 71, 1 20, 210; in incanta-
tions, 71, 21 1 ; probable age of
these conceptions, 72,; his other
names and their meaning, 72-4,
176 ; local uses thereof, 73; Mal-
katu his consort, 74-5, 176, 241-
685 ; offspring of Nin-gal, 98 ; in
Lugalzaggisi's and Gudea's pan-
theon, no ; in Hammurabi's pan-
theon, 162; warrior of heaven and
earth, 144, 211; mighty hero, 152 ;
position in Bab. pantheon during
and after Hammurabi, 144; posi-
tion in Ass. pantheon, 144, 209-
n ; associated with Ramman, 145,
157-8, 1 60, 21 1 ; associated with
Sin and Ramman, 158, 163 ; asso-
ciated with Ishtar, 163, 511 ; asso-
ciated with Malik and Bunene,
176; often called Malik, 176;
symbol of Shamash, 176-7; temple
at Ashur, 209 ; protecting deity,
209 ; ethical level in Ass. pan-
774
INDEX.
theon, 209-10 ; judge of heaven
and earth, 210, 274, 279, 297, 527
(cf, 640) ; prominence of sun cult
during reign of Ashurnasirbal
and Shalmaneser II., 210, 646;
under Esarhaddon, 646; sanctuary
by Sargon II., 2 1 1 ; cult influenced
by that of Egyptian Ra, 210 (cf.
699) ; name of one of the eastern
gates of Sargon's II. palace, 237 ;
grants victory, 237 ; Nebuchad-
nezzar II. and Shamash cult, 646;
Nabonnedos gives prominence to
Sh. cult, 240-1, 647 ; temple in
Babylon, 242, 640 ; Sh. in incanta-
tions, 280 ; in hymns, 300 ff. ; in
omens and oracles, 334, 344 ; Sha-
mash and Sin, 305, 647 ; 7th month
sacred to Sh., 463, 685; patron of
Gilgamesh, 471, 479; identical
with Lugal-Marada, 486; patron
of Etana, 520 ; controls Zu, 538 ;
on seal cylinders, 540; Si-gar, a
festival of, 684; festival days, 685.
Shamshi-Ramman, king of Assyria,
gives prominence to Ninib cult,
214.
Shamuktu, a class of priestesses of
Ishtar, 660.
Ska-nit(?)-ka, goddess, in Ass. pan-
theon, 1 88; associated with Damku
and Sharru-ilu, 232 ; mistress of
Nineveh, 233; = Ishtar, 233.
Sharru, title of Marduk, in the
deluge story, 500.
Sharru-ilu, god, associated with
Damku and Sha-nit(?)-ka, 232 ;
meaning of name, 232 ; evidently
a title, 232 ; perhaps a foreign
god, 232 ; worshipped at Magga-
nubba, 232.
Shar-sarbi = Belsarbi, 242.
Sherua, minor god in Ass. pantheon,
234 ; foreign deity, 644.
Sheol, 560 ; O. T. conceptions of
Sheol || to Babylonian concep-
tions, 606 ff.; see also SAted/u,
Dead.
Shinar = Babylonia, 613.
Skip, construction of, 498-9 ; Puzur-
shadu-rabu, captain of ark, 500 ;
a sacred object, 653-4 ; its uses
and significance, 654 ; compared
with the Mahmal and the ark,
«, 655-
'''Ship of Light" name of Sin's ship,
655.
" Ship of Malku" name of the ship
of Naru, 655.
"Ship of the Brilliant Offspring'"
name of Bau's ship, 655.
Shir, god, in Nebuchadnezzar's I.
pantheon, 162; local god, 163;
patron of Bit-Khabban, 176.
Skirpurla, see Lagash.
S/ntdlu, designation of the district
of the dead, 560 ff.; meaning, 559 ;
|| to Hebr. Sheol, 560.
Skubu, in Nebuchadnezzar's I.
pantheon, 162 ; local character,
163; patron god of Bit-Khabban,
176.
Sku-bu-la, god, in proper names of
the 2cl Bab. period, 169 ; patron of
Shumdula, 169.
Shu-gid-la, see Shu-bu-la, 169.
Shukamuna, Cassite god, identical
with Nergal, 152, 163, 172 ; head
of Agum's pantheon, 152, 172 ;
consort of Shumalia, 173.
Shul-gur = Nin-gir-su, 5 1 .
Shul-pa-uddu, god, 51 ; meaning of
INDEX.
775
name, 99 ; age and extension of
cult, 99 ; decline of cult in favor
of Shamash and Ninib, 100 ; po-
sition in Babylonian astronomy,
100 ; solar deity, 99, 531.
S/ntmalia, in the Cassite pantheon,
162-3, 172; in Nebuchadnezzar's
I. pantheon, 162 ; consort of Shu-
kamuna, 173; epithet, 173.
Shnmdula, city in Babylonia, cult
of Shubula, 169.
Shum-gar, see Si-gar.
Shurippak, city on Euphrates, de-
stroyed by rainstorm, 495 ; com-
parison with Sodom, 496, 507.
Shurpit series, 290.
Shu-sil-lciy see Shttbula, 169.
Sifa', collective personification of the
seven evil spirits associated with
Ishum, 533.
Sibittum, minor deity in the Etana
legend, 521.
Siduri, Sabitum, the goddess of
Siduri, 491.
Si-gar, festival of Gula, 683 ; festi-
val of Sin, 684 ; festival of Sha-
mash, 684 ; meaning, 684; date of
installation of Ashurbanabal, 684.
Silili, mother of one of Ishtar's as-
sociates, 482.
Sin, god, see also Nannar ; wor-
shipped in Harran, 76, 241, 641,
647; temple at Ur, 76, 241, 295,
640, 644, 687; occurrence of the
name elsewhere, 77; amalgama-
tion with Nannar, 78 ; chief trait,
78 ; lunar cycle and sun calendar,
78 ; epithets and functions, 76,
78-9, 219, 462 ; gradual decrease of
Sin cult, 78-9; in Lugalzaggisi's
and Gudea's pantheon, 1 10 ; asso-
ciated with Shamash and Ram-
man, 158, 163; in Hammurabi's
pantheon, 162 ; patron of Bit-
Khabban, 163; head of 2d triad,
163; associated with Ishtar, 163,
571; father of Ishtar, 565; tem-
ple at Calah, 219; sanctuary at
Khorsabad, 219; sanctuary at
Magganubba, 219; god of wis-
dom, 78, 219; god of war in Ass.
pantheon, 219; first-born son of
Bel, 76, 219 ; subordinate position
in Ass. pantheon, 219-20; Sin
and astronomy, resp. astrology,
219-20; temple at Babylon, 242;
in incantations, 280 ; in hymn,
303-4 ; Sin and Shamash, 305,
647; first-born of Bell" 219, 462;
Siwan, 3d month, sacred to Sin,
462 ; chapel in E-Zida, 639 ; Sin
cult under Nabonnedos, 77, 648 ;
Sin's ship, 655 ; zagmuk of, 678 ;
Si-gar, festival of, 684.
Sinai, a peninsula (metals and
stone), 627, 652.
Sin-gam il, of Uruk, builds sanctu-
aries to Nergal at Cuthah, 66.
Sin-gashid, of Uruk, servitor of
Lugal-banda and Nin-gul, 95-6.
Sin-iddina, of Larsa, builds sanctuary
to Shamash in Larsa, 69 ; builds
temple of Sin in Ur, 76.
Sippar, temple and archives, 10;
ancient center, 35, 245 ; center of
worship of Shamash, 69, 117,
143-4, 241, 628, 640, 646; temple
of Nun-gal, 168 ; worship of Sha-
mash, Malik, and Bunene, 176;
temple of Nin-karrak, 294; temple
of Malkatu or A, 640 ; zikkurat,
" Threshold of Long Life," 641.
776
INDEX.
Sir, serpent god, in proper names of
the 2d Bab. period, 170.
Sirius, observations of, 372.
Siwan, 3d month, sacred to Sin,
462, 687; sacred to the god of
brick structures, 463; 25th day
of Siwan sacred to Belit of Baby-
lon, 684.
Slaves, standing of slaves a measure
of social ethics, 695.
Smith, George, explorations, 9.
Sodom, destruction of, point of con-
tact with Gilgamesh epic, 495-6,
5°7-
Sokkaros, grandfather of Gilgamesh
(Aelian), 524.
Solomonic temple and the sacred
quarter in Nippur, 623-4 ; horns
of altar compared with Bab. cus-
tom, 652; "sea" compared with
Apsu, 653 ; ark compared with
the Bab. ship, 655.
Sorcer, Sorceress, see also Witch-
craft; relationship betw. s. and
oracle-giver, 342.
Spirits, in proper names, 166, 180;
Nun-gal-e-ne, a class of, 168 (cf.
184); their symbols, 174, 182;
functions, 174; lists of, 180; clas-
sification of, 181 ff.; of disease,
181, 1 86, 246 ; of the field, 182 ; of
the nether- wo rid, 183; dividing
line betw. gods and spirits, 181,
183, 231, 266, 274; of evil, 260,
264; activity of, 260-1 ; repre-
sentations of, 263 ; habitations
of, 260, 263 ; the seven spirits,
264 ; strength attribute of, 266 ;
relationship betw. demons and
witchcraft, 267; differentiation of
demons, 262.
Spiritualization of mythology, 304,
306 ; characteristic of later times,
297; in penitential psalms, 313,
3'9-
Splendor of Heaven and Earth,
name of temple, 641.
Stars, writing of heaven, 454 ; divi-
sion of, 455.
Storm, symbols of storm (birds and
bulls), 537 ff.
Subartii, name of country, 532.
Stigi, name of country, 67 5.
Sukhal-ziku, name of mythical foun-
tain, 572.
Sumer and Akkad, ethnological-
geographical, 32-3 ; S.-A. lan-
guage in incantations, 259.
Sumerian question, 21—4, 32—4.
Sun, see Shamash ; gates of s., 435,
443; representation of sun in
creation story, 461 ; sun and moon
in astronomy and religion, 461.
Susian wedge 'writing, 19.
Syllabaries, 135.
Syncclhis, source for B.-A. religion,
T>5-
Systematized religion, see Theology.
Taboo, meaning of, 397.
Talisman, see Amulet, Teraphim.
Tammuz, agricultural deity, 58, 588 ;
relations to Ishtar, 84, 482, 484,
547, 564, 574 ; T. and Gish-zida
doorkeepers of heaven, 546 ; solar
deity, 547; 4th month named
for T., 547, 682 ; intercedes for
Adapa with Anu, 548-9; brother
of Belili, 575; T.'s day = All-
Sotrfs' Day, 599, 605, 682; iden-
tified with Nin-girsu, 58; associ-
ated with Nin-gish-zida, 546, 588.
INDEX.
777
Tamnniz, 4th month, sacred to
Ninib, 462 ; named for god Tam-
muz, 547, 682 ; .sacred to the ser-
vant of Gibil, 463.
Tarbisu, city north of Nineveh ;
temple of Nergal, 219.
Tar-gul-le, names of some demons
let loose by Dibbarra in the deluge
story, 500.
TasJimitnm, goddess in pantheon
of- Hammurabi, 130; a new crea-
tion, 131-2; consort of Nabu,
130-1, 228-9 ; meaning of name,
131 ; her quasi-artificial character,
131-2; called Nana, 132; shrine
in E-Sagila, 220, 241 ; in the sub-
script to Ashurbanabal's tablets,
229-30 ; shrine in E-Zida, 241.
Tashritu, see Tishri.
Taylor, J. E., excavations, 8.
Tebet, loth month, sacred to Papsu-
kal, Ishtar, and Anu, 463 ; festival
of En-meshara, 588.
Tel-Id, mound near Warka, site of
ancient capital of Mar, 100.
Tell-el-amarna, see El-amarna.
Tel I- Ibrahim = Cuthah.
Tclloh, excavations, 11 ; temple
records and legal documents, 165.
Tell-Sifr, temple records and legal
documents, 165.
Temple records, see also Literature ;
source of study of the deities, 167.
Temples, 612 ff. ; names of t., 638 ff.;
history of t., 642 ff. ; as financial
establishments, 650 ; minor part
played by the temples in Assyria,
659-
Terah, Terahitcs, appearance in
Palestine, 2 ; migrations, 2 ; home
of, 9.
T'eraphim, talismans parallel to
Ass.-Bab. statuettes of gods, 674.
Teumman, king of Elam, 296.
Tha-mnd, Arabic tribe destroyed,
496.
The Brilliant House, name of temple,
641.
" The Lesser Light" name of Nin-
gal's ship, 655.
Theology and popular belief, 89, 114,
131, 1 80, 235, 249, 411, 414, 416,
458, 494, 527, 584, 614, 619, 629-
30, 689; Gudea's system, 108;
interaction betw. political fortunes
and positions of divinities, 108,
iio-ir, 134-5^ 201, 234, 235;
genealogical arrangement accord-
ing to Amiaud, 108 ; family theory
according to Davis, 109; its value,
109; tendency towards recogni-
tion of certain great gods, in,
147, 171, 190, 234-5, 696; or-
ganization of cult and ritual,
establishment of dogmas, i r 5,
133, 247,690; pedagogical activ-
ity, 135; formation of the great
triad, 147 ; re-systematization of
gods by Hammurabi, 171, 276;
systematization of spirits, 184 ;
attempts to systematize series of
gods, 213, 216, 233; theology in
cosmology, 412 ff., 418,443; in
the 1 2th tablet of the Gilgamesh
epic, 512-3; in the Etana legend,
527 ; theology in the Zu epic, 542.
Thomas, Felix, excavations, 8.
Thousand and One Nights, 494.
Threshold of Long Life, name of
zikkurat in Sippar, 641.
Tianiat, mythical monster, con-
quered by Marduk, 140, 197,408;
778
INDEX.
fought by Anu, Ea, 197 ; synony-
mous with Apsu, 41 r ; female
principle, 411 ; personified chaos,
411, 414; dominion of T. and
Apsu precedes that of the gods,
412; gods product of the union
of T. and Apsu, 413; mythical
monsters product of the union
of T. and Apsu, 414; associates
of T., 419; Ummu-Khubur, epi-
thet of T., 419; Kingu her con-
sort, 420 ; Tiamat epic compared
with Zu myth, 543 ; comparison
with Nergal-Allat fight, 585.
Tiglathpileser /., king of Assyria,
nomenclative of Bel, 146; dedi-
cates temple to Anu and Ram-
man, 154, 159 ; as a hunter, 216 ;
rebuilds temple of Bel at Ashur,
225; pantheon, 236; dedicates
captured gods, 675.
Tiglathpileser II., sacrifices in Baby-
lonia, 664.
Tigris, course of, 28-9 ; comparison
with Euphrates, 30 ; in garden
of Eden, 2 (cf. 506) ; one of the
four streams forming the conflu-
ence of streams, 506 (cf. 2).
Tishri, 7th month, sacred to Sha-
mash, 462 (cf. 681, 685); 7th day
sacred to Shamash, Malkatu, and
Bunene, 685.
Tombs, see Dead.
Triad, the great, Anu, Bel, Ea, 107 ;
relationship of the members, 147;
product of theology, 147, 149 ; de-
velopment of, 148; extraneous
position, 149; representative of
the three kingdoms, 155; pun-
ish the violator of monuments,
207 ; fix the name of the months,
208, 236; general position in
Ass. pantheon, 236 ; give victory,
236; grant rule, 236; associated
with Ashur, Ishtar, and Igigi, and
Anunnaki, 236; in incantations,
273 ; associated with fire-god, 279;
in Gudea, 418 ; in the cosmology,
418; ancestors of the triad, 418;
symbolizes the eternal laws of the
universe, 432.
7"riad, second, Sin, Shamash, Ram-
man, 163; in incantations, 273.
Tubal-cain, biblical father of metal
workers, 178.
Tur-lil-en, in Nebuchadnezzar's II.
pantheon, 242.
Tychsen, Gerhard, decipherment of
wedge writing, 15.
Ubshu-kenna, council chamber of
the gods, 423, 629, 687.
Uddnshu-Nami)', a divine servant,
created by Ea, 571.
#i/-s0/=Ninib, 166.
Ukhat, in the Gilgamesh epic, 475,
476ff.; parallelism betw. U. and
Eve, 511.
Ukhdti, sacred harlots of Uruk, 475,
531, 660.
Ul-mash-shi-tum, in proper names of
the 2d Bab. period, 170.
Ululu, 6th month, sacred to Ishtar,
462, 684 ; sacred to Ashur, 463,
685; sacred to Ninib, 215, 684;
3d day of U. sacred to Shamash,
Malkatu, and Bunene, 685.
Ulnlu 2d (intercalated), sacred to
Anu and Bel, 463.
Umu, goddess, 51 ; priestess of Uruk,
1 02 ; in Lugalzaggisi's pantheon,
no.
INDEX.
779
Umun-pa-uddn = Shul-pa-uddu, 99.
Ur, city, home of Terahites, 9 ;
dynasties, 36-7; sacred to Sin or
Nannar, 69-70, 75, 242, 640, 647;
sanctuary of Shamash, 70 ; start-
ing point of Hebrew migrations,
77; association with Harran, 77;
temple of Nana, 81 ; temple of
Nin-gal, 97; temple, of Sin, 70,
242, 295, 640; literary center,
245; zikkurat at Ur, 617 ; temple
E-kharsag, 638 ; temple E-gal-
makh, 639.
Ur-Bau, patesi of Lagash, builds
sanctuary of Belit, 56; builds
sanctuary to Ea in Girsu, 61-3 ;
builds sanctuary to Shamash in
Larsa, 69 ; preserves local cults
in Larsa, Nippur, Uruk, 69;
builder of temple of Sin in Ur,
76; builds temple of Ninni in
Gishgalla, 80 ; builds temple to
Nin-Mar in Mar, 100 ; builds tem-
ple of Ku(?)-anna in Girsu, 102;
erects a zikkurat in Nippur, 645.
Ur-Giir II., ist dynasty of Ur, builds
temple of Nana in Uruk, 81.
Ur-Kasdim = Ur.
Ur-Nin-Girsu, of Lagash, priest of
Anu, 90.
Ur-Shul-pa-uddu, ruler of Kish, 99.
Urn-azagga, quarter of Lagash, 57 ;
temple of Bau, 59, 103.
Uru-gal, "great city," designation
of nether-world, 592 ; Nin-azu,
god of U., 592.
Unik, ancient center, 9, 35, 245, 445,
472; excavated, 9; rulers, 37;
temple of Nin-shakh, 93 ; temple
of Lugal-banda, 95 ; temple of
Nin-gul, 96 ; origin of cult of
Nisaba, 102 ; Nana, or Ishtar,
the great goddess of Uruk, Si,
84, 103, 242, 31 1, 445, 473, 475, 645»
648 ; importance of Uruk in
Nippur inscriptions, 103 ; worship
of Nisaba, 1 1 1 ; temple of Nana or
Ishtar, 8 1, 242, 311, 531, 639;
Uruk supuri, 472 ; city of the
Kizreti, Ukhati, and Kharimati,
475, 531 ; conquered by Gilga-
mesh, 473, 513; attacked by
Khumbaba, 430 ; Uruk under
Cassites (?), 480; attacked by
Dibbarra, 531 ; dwelling of Anu
and Ishtar, 531 ; zikkurat at U.,
619, 639.
Uru-kagina, patesi of Lagash, 53 ;
king of Girsu, 56 ; erects temple
of Bau at Uru-azagga, 103.
Utu, surname of Shamash, 72 ;
etymology, 73.
Utukku, a class of spirits, 260 (cf.
511).
Vases, sacred objects, 652, 674-5 »
comparison with vases in the
Solomonic temple, 653.
Venus = Ishtar, name of planet,
370.
Votive inscriptions, see Religious
Texts.
Votive offerings, 51, 57, 660 ff . ;
lists of, 165 ; popular character,
668-9 ; statues of kings votive
offerings, 669 ; occasions for, 670 ;
offered by kings and laymen, 671,
675; various objects, 671, 675;
captured gods as offerings, 675.
Warka, see Urnk.
Water, see Fire and Ea ; means of
purification, 276, 279, 282, 289.
780
INDEX.
Wedge writing, styles and varieties,
19, 20 ; origin, 21 ff., 454, 455.
Witchcraft, origin of belief in, 267 ;
relationship betw. w. and demons,
267 ; the sex in w., 267, 342, 485;
means of w., 268 ; protection
against, 269 ; release from, 285,
657 ; causes of punishment by,
291.
Worship, tree worship compared
with Hebrew-Phoenician Ashera
cult, 689 ; symbolical in Bab., 689.
Xenophon, contemporary of Ctesias,
XisutJiras, 505 ; see Adra-Khasis.
Yakhin, name of column in Solo-
mon's temple, 624.
Zab, lower, tributary of Tigris, 192.
Zabu, king of Babylon, restores
Shamash temple at Sippar, 117;
restores Anunit temple at Agade,
117.
Zag-muk, festival of Bau, 59, 677 ;
festival of Marduk, 127, 631,
678-9 ; festival of En-lil, 678 ;
festival of Sin, 678 ; festival of
Nana, 678 ; propitious time for
asking oracles, 628-9 > spring and
fall the time of the z., 678 ; com-
pared with Jewish New Year, 687.
Zakar, god, meaning of name, 172 ;
place of worship, 172; "wall of
Zakar," 172 ; relationship to Bel
and Belit, 172.
Zamama, god of the 2d Bab. period,
1 68; sanctuary to Z. in Kish,
169 ; god of battle (identified with
Ninib, 640), 169 ; Ninni his con-
sort, 169 ; in incantations, 273;
temple of Zamama-Ninib, 640.
Zartmi, son of Bau, 103.
Za-za-uru, son of Bau, 103.
Zikkurat, staged tower, 61 5 ; imita-
tion of mountain, 615 ; house of
oracle, 622 ; names of zikkurats,
638 ff.
Zodiac, z. system outcome of reli-
gious thought, 247, 434 ; zodiacal
interpretation of the gods, 82,
310-1, 434, 462-3, 676; almost
the entire zodiac known to the
Babylonians, 456.
Zoroastrianism, 45.
Zu, personification of storm, 525,
537 ; myth of Zu, 537 ff.; com-
pared with Tiamat epic, 543 ; ex-
planation of name, 537 ; the chief
worker of evil, 538 ; under the
control of Shamash, 538 ; robs
the tablets of fate, 540 ; conquered
by Marduk, 542.
ZiirgJiul, city in Babylonia, 578.
ADVERTISEMENTS
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JASTKOW, Morris.
The eligion of Babylonia
and Assyria.
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